In a method of manufacturing a field emitter, a patterned conductive layer is formed on a substrate, an upper surface of the conductive layer is coated with a mixture of a field emission material and metal powder, the mixture is thermally treated to improve adhesion of the mixture to the conductive layer, and a field emission material and a metal deposited on a portion of the substrate other than the conductive layer are removed. Accordingly, the lifespan and field emission characteristic of the field emitter are greatly improved, and a large area field emitter having excellent characteristics that cannot be realized in the conventional art is fabricated.