Field-emission energy distribution of BN-coated carbon nanotubes

The field-emission energy distribution of BN-coated multiwalled carbon nanotubes was investigated by measuring the energy distribution of emitted electrons. The field-emission energy distribution curve suddenly changes from a single peak to two peaks after the buildup process of carbon nanotube field emitters. The movement of the peaks is different from that in previous reports on coated carbon nanotubes. A possible explanation for this peak movement is proposed here — a thermal effect due to a high emission current during the measurements.