Carbon nanotube fiber cathode for high power electromagnetics applications

The objective of this project is to develop improved Carbon Nanotube (CNT) field emission (FE) cathodes for applications in microwave vacuum electron devices (MVEDs) and high-power microwave (HPM) sources and for other commercial applications. Although CNT FE cathodes have received considerable attention for applications in RF sources and HPM applications, they have not yet been accepted by the commercial MVED or HPM device manufacturers due to the lack of testing in the hostile environments associated with such devices. Based upon the very promising Phase I results demonstrating stable CNT cathode field emission current densities of > 9 A/cm2, we propose to develop and commercialize improved, large area, non-planer CNT-based FE cathodes.