title: Vapor-solid growth and characterization of aluminum nitride nanocones.
abstract: Aluminum nitride nanostructures are attractive for many promising applications in semiconductor nanotechnology. Herein we report on vapor-solid growth of quasi-aligned aluminum nitride nanocones on catalyst-coated wafers via the reactions between AlCl3 vapor and NH3 gas under moderate temperatures around 700 degrees C, and the growth mechanism is briefly discussed. The as-prepared wurtzite aluminum nitride nanocones grow preferentially along the c-axis with adjustable dimensions of the sharp tips in the range of 20-60 nm. The photoluminescence spectrum reveals a broad blue emission band with a fine photon structure while the field emission study shows a notable emission current with a moderate turn-on field as expected, suggesting their potential applications in light and electron emission nanodevices.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Chemistry of MOE, Department of Chemistry, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
authors.forename: Chun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Xizhang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sang
authors.forename: Jianmin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Shaozhi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Ningsheng
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Xu