title: Enhanced field emission characteristics in metal-coated Si-nanocones.
abstract: Metallic gold (Au) and platinum (Pt) thin films were deposited on silicon nanocones (Si-NCs) by sputtering to elucidate the effects of work function and conductivities on the field electron emission characteristics of surface-modified Si-NCs. The results showed that for Pt/Si-NCs and Au/Si-NCs, although the turn-on field defined at a corresponding current density of 10 μA cm(-2) only improved from 4.20 V μm(-1) for bare Si-NCs to 3.65 and 2.90 V μm(-1), respectively, the emission current density measured at 5.00 V μm(-1) was enhanced by orders of magnitude, reaching 1.82 mA cm(-2) for Au/Si-NCs. Compared to those obtained from various surface-modified Si-nanostructures, such as ZnO/Si-nanopillars and ferroelectrics/Si-nanotips, the current results represent an interesting alternative route for producing surface-modified Si-NCs that might be useful for optical and electronic applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrophysics, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan. ymchang7@gmail.com
authors.forename: Yuan-Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Pin-Hsu
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Kao
authors.forename: Hung-Ming
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Tai
authors.forename: Hau-Wei
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Chih-Ming
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Hsin-Yi
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jenh-Yih
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Juang
mesh_terms: D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D010984:Platinum / Q000737:chemistry; D012666:Semiconductors; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties; D013696:Temperature; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D010984:Platinum; D006046:Gold; D015034:Zinc Oxide; D012825:Silicon