Nano-sized conical-type tungsten(W) field-emitters based on carbon nanotubes(CNTs) are fabricated with the configuration of CNTs/catalyst/buffer/W-tip by adopting various buffer layers, such as TiN, Al, Al/TiN, and Al/Ni/TiN. This study focuses on elucidating how the buffer layers affect the structural properties of CNTs and the electron-emission characteristics of CNT-emitters. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy(FESEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRTEM) are used to monitor the nanostructures and surface morphologies of all the catalysts and CNTs grown. The crystalline structure of CNTs is also characterized by Raman spectroscopy. Furthermore, the measurement of field-emission characteristics for all the field-emitters fabricated shows that the emitter using the Al/Ni/TiN stacked buffer reveals the most excellent performances, such as maximum emission current of 202μA, threshold field of 2.08V/μm, and long-term (up to 24h) stability of emission current.