First-principles study of field emission of carbon nanotubes

Seungwu Han(1,2) and Jisoon Ihm(1)

 

(1) School of Physics, Seoul Nantional University, Korea
(2) Princeton Materials Institute, Princeton University, USA

Field emission properties of the (10,10) carbon nanotube are investigated with a first-principles approach. Emission currents are obtained through integrations of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation. We find that the emission current from the states localized at the tip end is more than ten times greater than direct contributions from extended metallic (pi and pi*) states.[1] The spatial distribution of the electronic wave function as it tunnels through the energy barrier is shown in time sequence. The simulated image on the screen shows a pentagonal pattern in agreement with experiment.

 
Reference
[1] Seungwu Han and Jisoon Ihm, PRB v.66, p.241402(R) (2003)