Correlation between resistance and field emission performance of individual ZnO one-dimensional nanostructures.
Both electrical and field emission measurements were carried out to study the correlation between resistance and field emission performance of individual one-dimensional (1D) ZnO nanostructures. Three types of 1D ZnO nanostructures were investigated (i.e., agave-like shape, pencil-like shape, and hierarchical structure) and were prepared by thermal chemical vapor transport and condensation without using any catalyst. The 1D ZnO nanostructures have obvious differences in resistance and thus conductivity from type to type. In addition, in the same type of 1D ZnO nanostructure, each individual emitter may also have variation in resistance and thus in conductivity. The field emission performance of the ZnO emitters was found to be strongly correlated with the resistance of each individual ZnO nanostructure: (i) a ZnO emitter with low resistance will have better emission; (ii) a high resistance region in a ZnO nanostructure is liable to the initiation of a vacuum breakdown event. The results indicate that, besides the uniformity in the geometrical structure, the uniformity in conductivity of the emitters in an array should be ensured, in order to meet the requirement of device application.
She
Juncong
J
State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Physics and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China.
Xiao
Zhiming
Z
Yang
Yuhua
Y
Deng
Shaozhi
S
Chen
Jun
J
Yang
Guowei
G
Xu
Ningsheng
N
D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods*; D017097:Electric Impedance; D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000379:methods*; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry; D008422:Materials Testing; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D010316:Particle Size; D013499:Surface Properties; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*
D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D015034:Zinc Oxide