Abstract
In this work, a simple and scalable method was presented to decorate carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with platinum nanoparticles (Pt NPs) by atomic layer deposition (ALD) for field emission (FE) application. The size and distribution of NPs were precisely controlled by adjusting the number of ALD cycles. It was discovered that a higher cycle number of ALD resulted in continuously increased conductivity of the CNTs@Pt nanocomposite. It could be explained by not only the increased loading of Pt NPs but also by the gradually decreased presence of the PtO compound in NPs. As a result, a significant improvement in the FE characteristics of the cold cathode was observed because of the decoration of CNTs with metal NPs. The higher number of ALD cycles resulted in the gradual lowering of the turn-on electric field which reached a minimum value of ∼0.43 V/μm after 100 cycles of ALD.