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Field Emission Properties of BN/C and BN@C Hybrid Nanotubes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2011

Vincent Meunier ,
Marco Buongiorno Nardelli ,
William Shelton ,
Christopher Roland ,
Jerry Bernholc  and
Thomas Zacharia
Vincent Meunier
Affiliation:
Center for Computational Sciences and Computer Science and Mathematics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Marco Buongiorno Nardelli
Affiliation:
Center for Computational Sciences and Computer Science and Mathematics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
William Shelton
Affiliation:
Center for Computational Sciences and Computer Science and Mathematics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
Christopher Roland
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Jerry Bernholc
Affiliation:
Center for Computational Sciences and Computer Science and Mathematics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Thomas Zacharia
Affiliation:
Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
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Abstract

Our simulations predict that boron-nitride (BN) doping in carbon nanotubes can greatly improve the field emission properties of these systems. The intrinsic electric field associated with the polarity of the B-N bond enhances the emitted current density through a reduction of the work function at the tip. Using a combination of real-space and plane-wave ab initio methods, we show that this effect is present in both coaxial (BN@C) and linear (BN/C) nanotubular assemblies. While in the coaxial geometry the improvement amounts to a factor of five, the current density is predicted to increase by up to two orders of magnitude in BN/C superlattices.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 739: Symposium H – Three-Dimensional Nanoengineered Assemblies , 2002 , H5.7
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2003

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