Stable Field Emission from Vertically Oriented SiC Nanoarrays
Silicon carbide (SiC) nanostructure is a type of promising field emitter due to high breakdown field strength, high thermal conductivity, low electron affinity, and high electron mobility. However, the fabrication of the SiC nanotips array is difficult due to its chemical inertness. Here we report a...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-11-01
|
| Series: | Nanomaterials |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/11/11/3025 |
| _version_ | 1797509107793526784 |
|---|---|
| author | Jianfeng Xiao Jiuzhou Zhao Guanjiang Liu Mattew Thomas Cole Shenghan Zhou Ke Chen Xinchuan Liu Zhenjun Li Chi Li Qing Dai |
| author_facet | Jianfeng Xiao Jiuzhou Zhao Guanjiang Liu Mattew Thomas Cole Shenghan Zhou Ke Chen Xinchuan Liu Zhenjun Li Chi Li Qing Dai |
| author_sort | Jianfeng Xiao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Silicon carbide (SiC) nanostructure is a type of promising field emitter due to high breakdown field strength, high thermal conductivity, low electron affinity, and high electron mobility. However, the fabrication of the SiC nanotips array is difficult due to its chemical inertness. Here we report a simple, industry-familiar reactive ion etching to fabricate well-aligned, vertically orientated SiC nanoarrays on 4H-SiC wafers. The as-synthesized nanoarrays had tapered base angles >60°, and were vertically oriented with a high packing density >10<sup>7</sup> mm<sup>−2</sup> and high-aspect ratios of approximately 35. As a result of its high geometry uniformity—5% length variation and 10% diameter variation, the field emitter array showed typical turn-on fields of 4.3 V μm<sup>−1</sup> and a high field-enhancement factor of ~1260. The 8 h current emission stability displayed a mean current fluctuation of 1.9 ± 1%, revealing excellent current emission stability. The as-synthesized emitters demonstrate competitive emission performance that highlights their potential in a variety of vacuum electronics applications. This study provides a new route to realizing scalable field electron emitter production. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T05:13:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b46dfd825cd849e8a0455cf268eb5370 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-4991 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T05:13:10Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nanomaterials |
| spelling | doaj.art-b46dfd825cd849e8a0455cf268eb53702023-11-23T00:42:04ZengMDPI AGNanomaterials2079-49912021-11-011111302510.3390/nano11113025Stable Field Emission from Vertically Oriented SiC NanoarraysJianfeng Xiao0Jiuzhou Zhao1Guanjiang Liu2Mattew Thomas Cole3Shenghan Zhou4Ke Chen5Xinchuan Liu6Zhenjun Li7Chi Li8Qing Dai9Henan Institute of Advanced Technology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Nanophotonic Materials and Devices, CAS Key Laboratory of Standardization and Measurement for Nanotechnology, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Nanophotonic Materials and Devices, CAS Key Laboratory of Standardization and Measurement for Nanotechnology, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, ChinaDepartment of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UKCAS Key Laboratory of Nanophotonic Materials and Devices, CAS Key Laboratory of Standardization and Measurement for Nanotechnology, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Nanophotonic Materials and Devices, CAS Key Laboratory of Standardization and Measurement for Nanotechnology, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Nanophotonic Materials and Devices, CAS Key Laboratory of Standardization and Measurement for Nanotechnology, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Nanophotonic Materials and Devices, CAS Key Laboratory of Standardization and Measurement for Nanotechnology, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Nanophotonic Materials and Devices, CAS Key Laboratory of Standardization and Measurement for Nanotechnology, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, ChinaHenan Institute of Advanced Technology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, ChinaSilicon carbide (SiC) nanostructure is a type of promising field emitter due to high breakdown field strength, high thermal conductivity, low electron affinity, and high electron mobility. However, the fabrication of the SiC nanotips array is difficult due to its chemical inertness. Here we report a simple, industry-familiar reactive ion etching to fabricate well-aligned, vertically orientated SiC nanoarrays on 4H-SiC wafers. The as-synthesized nanoarrays had tapered base angles >60°, and were vertically oriented with a high packing density >10<sup>7</sup> mm<sup>−2</sup> and high-aspect ratios of approximately 35. As a result of its high geometry uniformity—5% length variation and 10% diameter variation, the field emitter array showed typical turn-on fields of 4.3 V μm<sup>−1</sup> and a high field-enhancement factor of ~1260. The 8 h current emission stability displayed a mean current fluctuation of 1.9 ± 1%, revealing excellent current emission stability. The as-synthesized emitters demonstrate competitive emission performance that highlights their potential in a variety of vacuum electronics applications. This study provides a new route to realizing scalable field electron emitter production.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/11/11/3025silicon carbideone-dimensional nanomaterialsnanoarraysfield emission |
| spellingShingle | Jianfeng Xiao Jiuzhou Zhao Guanjiang Liu Mattew Thomas Cole Shenghan Zhou Ke Chen Xinchuan Liu Zhenjun Li Chi Li Qing Dai Stable Field Emission from Vertically Oriented SiC Nanoarrays Nanomaterials silicon carbide one-dimensional nanomaterials nanoarrays field emission |
| title | Stable Field Emission from Vertically Oriented SiC Nanoarrays |
| title_full | Stable Field Emission from Vertically Oriented SiC Nanoarrays |
| title_fullStr | Stable Field Emission from Vertically Oriented SiC Nanoarrays |
| title_full_unstemmed | Stable Field Emission from Vertically Oriented SiC Nanoarrays |
| title_short | Stable Field Emission from Vertically Oriented SiC Nanoarrays |
| title_sort | stable field emission from vertically oriented sic nanoarrays |
| topic | silicon carbide one-dimensional nanomaterials nanoarrays field emission |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/11/11/3025 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jianfengxiao stablefieldemissionfromverticallyorientedsicnanoarrays AT jiuzhouzhao stablefieldemissionfromverticallyorientedsicnanoarrays AT guanjiangliu stablefieldemissionfromverticallyorientedsicnanoarrays AT mattewthomascole stablefieldemissionfromverticallyorientedsicnanoarrays AT shenghanzhou stablefieldemissionfromverticallyorientedsicnanoarrays AT kechen stablefieldemissionfromverticallyorientedsicnanoarrays AT xinchuanliu stablefieldemissionfromverticallyorientedsicnanoarrays AT zhenjunli stablefieldemissionfromverticallyorientedsicnanoarrays AT chili stablefieldemissionfromverticallyorientedsicnanoarrays AT qingdai stablefieldemissionfromverticallyorientedsicnanoarrays |