Field emission characteristics of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes with honeycomb configuration grown onto glass substrate with titanium coating

•We have successfully designed the honeycomb patterns on glass substrate by photolithography technique.•Honeycomb-VACNTs were synthesized successfully onto glass substrate by using thermal CVD and covered different Ti films on VACNTs by e-beam evaporation.•After coating the Ti films, the current density reached 7 mA/cm2 when the electric field was 2.5 V/μm.•The fluorescence of VACNTs with Ti 15 nm films exhibits the high brightness screen and emission uniformity.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were grown successfully onto a glass substrate using thermal chemical vapor deposition (TCVD) with C2H2 gas at 700 °C. The synthesized CNTs exhibited good crystallinity and a vertically aligned morphology. The vertically aligned CNTs (VACNTs) were patterned with a honeycomb configuration using photolithography and characterized using field emission (FE) applications. Owing to the electric field concentration, the FE current density of VACNTs with honeycomb configuration was higher than that of the un-patterned VACNTs. Ti was coated onto the VACNT surface utilizing the relatively lower work function property to enhance the FE current density. The FE current density reached up to 7.0 mA/cm2 at an applied electric field of 2.5 V/μm. A fluorescent screen was monitored to demonstrate uniform FE VACNTs with a honeycomb configuration. The designed field emitter provided an admirable example for FE applications.