A vertically aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) mesh emitter array on metal mesh electrode has been fabricated with a low temperature growth process, from which a current density of up to 5 A/cm(2), and a threshold field of 0.9 Vnarn for a current density 1 mA/cm(2) were obtained, which show much better performance than CNT mesh on a flat electrode. This result was attributed to the enhanced edge effect of CNT mesh on metal mesh electrode. The numerical calculation results proved that the electric field on top of CNT emitter on mesh electrode was enhanced compared to that on flat electrode. Crown Copyright (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.