Carbon nanotube based photocathodes.

Autor: Ludovic Hudanski, Eric Minoux, Laurent Gangloff, Kenneth B K, Philippe Schnell, Stephane Xavier, John Robertson, William I Milne, Didier Pribat, Pierre Legagneux
Předmět:
Zdroj: Nanotechnology; Mar2008, Vol. 19 Issue 10, p05201-05201, 1p
Abstrakt: This paper describes a novel photocathode which is an array of vertically aligned multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), each MWCNT being associated with one p-i-n photodiode. Unlike conventional photocathodes, the functions of photon-electron conversion and subsequent electron emission are physically separated. Photon-electron conversion is achieved with p-i-n photodiodes and the electron emission occurs from the MWCNTs. The current modulation is highly efficient as it uses an optically controlled reconfiguration of the electric field at the MWCNT locations. Such devices are compatible with high frequency and very large bandwidth operation and could lead to their application in compact, light and efficient microwave amplifiers for satellite telecommunication. To demonstrate this new photocathode concept, we have fabricated the first carbon nanotube based photocathode using silicon p-i-n photodiodes and MWCNT bunches. Using a green laser, this photocathode delivers 0.5 mA with an internal quantum efficiency of 10% and an ION/IOFF ratio of 30. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Databáze: Complementary Index