Arc plasma synthesized Si nanotubes: A promising low turn on field emission source

Abstract

Here, the authors report the field emission investigations of silicon nanotubes (SiNTs) synthesized by vapor phase condensation method in DC arc plasma reactor. The SiNTs have diameters in the range of 10–15 nm and length of a few 100 nm. A maximum current density of 4.2 mA/cm2 has been attained. The turn on field, defined for obtaining a current density of 10 μA/cm2, is found to be 1.9 V/μm. The specimen exhibits a good emission current stability at 1 μA over a period of 3 h. The field enhancement factor, β, is estimated to be ∼5534. The current stability is quantified in terms of standard deviation and its magnitude has been measured to be only 9.7% with respect to the average value.