The field emission from planar graphene sheets is usually limited by the morphological features. To overcome this problem, we grow vertically aligned thin-graphite sheets on graphite-encapsulated Cu particles (VGs/GC) using radio-frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RF-PECVD). Field emission measurements show that the insert of Cu particles can substantially improve the field emission properties of the VGs, which can be attributed to the enhanced local fields at the tip of VGs/GC as well as the electron conductivity enhancement due to the existence of Cu particles. The effects of size and inter-particle distance of Cu particles on field emission for the VGs/GC hybrid material have been revealed. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.