Abstract: In order to study influence of buffer layer on intense pulsed field emission（IPFE） of carbon nanotube films（CNTs）,CNTs were synthesized on Si substrate with and without electroless plated Ni buffer respectively（Ni-CNTs and Si-CNTs） by pyrolysis of iron phthalocyanine（FePc）.IPFE properties of Si-CNTs and Ni-CNTs were measured with a diode structure in single-pulse mode.It was found that the emission ability of CNTs were improved obviously by introducing Ni buffer layer.The even turn-on field decreased from 5.0V/μm for Si-CNTs to 4.3V/μm for Ni-CNTs,and the peak emission current and current density increased from 70 A and 3.5 A/cm² for Si-CNTs to 162 A and 8.1 A/cm² for Ni-CNTs at a peak field intensity ～10.4 V/μm.The peak current of the Ni-CNTs increased by ～131.4% over the Si-CNTs at the same peak electric field.