Carbon-nanotube cold cathodes as non-contact electrical couplers

When two carbon-nanotube coated electrodes are placed at a small distance from each other, electron field emission from carbon nanotubes allows DC or AC electrical current to flow between these two electrodes. The voltage drop across these two electrodes depends on the electric field needed for field emission of electrons that carry the electrical current in the circuit and the distance between these two electrodes. For applications to high-voltage circuits, which operate at much higher voltages than what is needed across two counter electrodes to provide adequate electron field emission current, this device serves as an effective non-contact electrical power coupler. Both rectifying electrical coupling and full-wave electrical coupling have been explored and will be reported in this paper. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.