Electromechanical self-oscillations of carbon nanotube field emitter

✍ Scribed by Victor I. Kleshch; Alexander N. Obraztsov; Elena D. Obraztsova

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 415 KB
• Volume: 48
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0008-6223
• DOI: 10.1016/j.carbon.2010.06.055

✦ Synopsis

We report the observation of the electromechanical self-oscillations excited in a vacuum diode with a field emission cathode made of single-wall carbon nanotubes. The mechanical oscillations of the cathode accompanied by the periodic variations of the emission current intensity have been observed under the action of a constant voltage applied between the cathode and the anode of the diode. An empirical model of the phenomenon is proposed.

It provides a qualitative agreement of the experimental results and the theoretical predictions. The modeling assuming a common behavior of the electromechanical systems with nano-sized mechanically flexible field emitters has been performed. It has demonstrated a dependence of the oscillation frequency value on the geometrical size of flexible emitters and on the value of voltage applied. This phenomenon opens a way for generation of the high frequency electromagnetic waves by using the electromechanical systems with emitters of nanometer size.