Effect of thermal motion of residual gas molecules on the degradation of the field emission cathode based on carbon nanotubes

The rate of degradation of carbon nanotubes in an electron field emission cathode is calculated taking into account thermal motion of the residual gas atoms. As the degradation mechanism, we consider the sputtering of the surface of carbon nanotubes by ions formed as a result of ionization of residual gas molecules by electron impacts. It is shown that the allowance for the initial thermal motion of atoms, the ionization of which is a source of ions, considerably reduces the degradation rate as compared to the results of approximate calculations based on the assumption of motionless atoms.