title: Superior field emission properties of layered WS2-RGO nanocomposites.
abstract: We report here the field emission studies of a layered WS2-RGO composite at the base pressure of ~1 × 10(-8) mbar. The turn on field required to draw a field emission current density of 1 μA/cm(2) is found to be 3.5, 2.3 and 2 V/μm for WS2, RGO and the WS2-RGO composite respectively. The enhanced field emission behavior observed for the WS2-RGO nanocomposite is attributed to a high field enhancement factor of 2978, which is associated with the surface protrusions of the single-to-few layer thick sheets of the nanocomposite. The highest current density of ~800 μA/cm(2) is drawn at an applied field of 4.1 V/μm from a few layers of the WS2-RGO nanocomposite. Furthermore, first-principles density functional calculations suggest that the enhanced field emission may also be due to an overalp of the electronic structures of WS2 and RGO, where graphene-like states are dumped in the region of the WS2 fundamental gap.
authors.affiliation: School of Basic Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar 751013, India.
authors.forename: Chandra Sekhar
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Rout
authors.forename: Padmashree D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Joshi
authors.forename: Ranjit V
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Kashid
authors.forename: Dilip S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Joag
authors.forename: Mahendra A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: More
authors.forename: Adam J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Simbeck
authors.forename: Morris
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Washington
authors.forename: Saroj K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Nayak
authors.forename: Dattatray J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Late