XPS Investigation and Field Emission Property of the Ar Plasma Processed Carbon Nanotube Films

Carbon nanotube films were fabricated by the catalytic CVD method. Plasma processed time effects on the field emission property were studied. The atomic structure was observed by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The surface composition changes were observed on the plasma processed CNT films. The O1s/C1s signal ratio and the Fls/Cls signal ratio changed from 1.1 % to 24.65 % and from 0 % to 3.1 % with plasma process time, respectively. We could guess it from these results that the Ar plasma process could change the surface composition effectively. In the case of the original-CNT film, no carbon shift was observed. In the case of the Ar plasma processed CNT films, however the oxygen related carbon shifts were observed. This oxygen related carbon shift at higher binding energy implies the increment of amount of the oxygen. It's possible that the increment of these bonds between carbon and oxygen results in the improvement of field emission performance.