title: Field electron emission of ZnO nanowire pyramidal bundle arrays.
abstract: A facile hydrothermal method was adopted to in situ grow ZnO nanowire pyramidal bundle arrays on zinc substrates at low growth temperature without the assistance of catalysts and templates. The bundle arrays were shown to form by sticking of nanowires at their tips. Field electron emission characterization of nanowires bundle arrays revealed a very low turn-on electric field of about 2.3 V/microm and a threshold electric field (corresponding to the field electron emission current density of 10 mA/cm2) of 6.8 V/microm, which are comparable to those observed in carbon nanotube arrays. The bundle arrays also show pronounced long-term field electron emission stability at a high current density. In addition, the formation mechanism of the pyramidal bundled arrays and the origin of the peculiar field electron emission properties were discussed.
authors.affiliation: Center of Super-Diamond and Advanced Films (COSDAF) and Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Y B
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Z B
authors.initials: ZB
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: G D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bello
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Lee