Large scale Al-containing amorphous carbon (a-C:Al) nanotip arrays with uniform size and high density were obtained through filtered cathodic arc plasma (FCAP) technique via a specially widened anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) pore arrays as templates. The nanotip is about 100 nm in diameter at the bottom and 120 nm in height with density of 1010 cm(-2). It was found that the sp(3)/(sp(3) + sp(2)) ratio were 60.2%, 64.0%, 65.1% and 67.2% for Al content of 0.94 at%, 3.85 at%, 5.33 at% and 6.38 at%, respectively. The threshold field decreased to 0.32 V/mu m at 10 mA/cm(2) and the maximum emission current density increased to 72 mA/cm(2) at Al content of 6.38 at%. This kind of material will play a significant role in cold-cathode field emission display area. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.