Abstract: A mixture of amorphous carbon and carbon nanotubes films was synthesized on stainless steel plates by a microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition system.The source gases were hydrogen and methane with flow rates of 100 and 16sccm,respectively,with a total pressure of 5.0kPa.The surface morphology and the structure of the films were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Raman scattering spectroscopy.Field emission properties of as-deposited film were measured in a vacuum room below 5E-5 Pa.The experimental results show that the initial turn-on field is 0.9V/μm;The current density is 4.0mA/cm2 and the emission sites are dense and uniform at an electric field of 3.7V/μm.These results indicate that such a mixture of amorphous carbon and carbon nanotubes films is a promising material for field emission applications.

Key words: amorphous carbon, carbon nanotubes film, field electron emission