The application of carbon nanotubes in high-efficiency low power consumption field-emission luminescent tube

In this report, details are given of our recent experimental study of using carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as cathode of the luminescent tubes. The CNT film is synthesized by thermal chemical vapor deposition. Two kinds of luminescent tubes that have different gaps have been fabricated. The luminescent tube with 0.1 mm gap has a low threshold voltage of about 780 V and high emission current of 300 μA when the gate voltage is 970 V. The DC power consumption of the luminescent tube with a 0.1 mm gap is ∼1.12 W. The results show that the CNTs are very good emission sources and suitable for application in the luminescent tube.