Influence of length distributions of carbon nanotubes on their field emission uniformity in the paste-printed dot arrays

Arrays of carbon nanotube (CNT) emitter dots with a diode structure were fabricated by screen printing and subsequent photolithographic patterning of a CNT paste. Two different types of raw CNTs, which were of narrow and wide distributions of lengths, were used in preparing the photosensitive CNT pastes. Field emission uniformity of the arrays of CNT emitter dots was characterized by statistically analyzing brightness data of individual dots. It seemed that the narrow length distribution of raw CNTs resulted in uniform heights of standing CNT emitters in dots, consequently giving rise to high emission uniformity over an area.