Since the first Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) TV was invented in 1927, display technology has progressed at a rapid speed, attracting tremendous attention and enormous resources. Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) is the most mature and popular technology in flat panel displays compared to CRT. Carbon nanotube backlight unit (CNT-BLU) was regarded as a strong contender to replace the cold cathode fluorescence lamp backlight unit (CCFL-BLU) in LCD.
CNTs have been spotlighted as one of promising alternatives for new electron sources; small tips and large aspect ratios of CNTs allow for a large electric field enhancement that makes them ideal field emitters. In this research, nanotube network BuckyPaper was proposed to act as surface luminary source for BLU. The major objective of this research is to systematically characterize various field emission properties of BuckyPapers and various lengths of open-ended CNTs. Particularly, low turn-on voltage, high average current, high luminance, low power consumption, uniformity and longer life-span will be explored.
VGCNF/SWNT in ratio 1:1 BuckyPaper film demonstrated the lowest turn-on voltage (0.623 V/um) and randomly dispersed SWNT BuckyPaper film showed the largest enhancement factor value (1062) among all BuckyPaper samples. The structure of emitters might be the major reason for the varying results from different compositions of BuckyPaper films. The 400 nm open-ended SWNT paste showed the lowest turn on voltage at 0.313 V/um and the largest enhancement factor value (3470). Open-ended SWNT paste exhibited the best I-V properties, but did not demonstrate acceptable durability. The effect of varying aspect ratio of open-ended SWNT will be investigated in the future.
