Statistical modelling of field-enhancement-factor distribution of nanostructured carbon films

In this paper, the emission I-V of the carbon nanotube (CNT) and carbon nanoparticle (CNP) films have been mapped using a micro-tip anode and the asymmetric distribution of field enhancement factor, β, have been deduced from the symmetric distribution of turn-on field. The field enhancement factors, which have been deduced from the fitting of I-V curves measured at 100 different locations to the Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) equation with the series-resistance effect, have confirmed the asymmetric distribution. Moreover, some characteristics of the emission measurements with a macroscopic anode, such as the slight curvature of F-N plots at low voltage regime and the exponential increase of emission site density (ESD), were found to be consistent with the asymmetric β distribution.