High intensity, plasma-induced emission from large area ZnO nanorod array cathodes

Abstract

High intensity electron emission cathodes based on a well-aligned ZnO nanorod array were fabricated. An investigation of the properties of the plasma and the electron beams produced by ZnO nanorod array cathodes was presented. Intense current electron beams were obtained from the cathodes. At an electric field of 7–8V∕μm and pulse duration of ∼100ns, the highest emission current density reached 76–91A∕cm2. The production mechanism of the electron beams was the plasma-induced emission. The morphology and structure of the ZnO nanorod after the application of the accelerating pulses were characterized. The plasma expanded at a velocity of about 10.7cm∕μs during the pulse interval. Whether the emission currents are high or low, the plasma on the cathode surface were always distributed uniformly. The ZnO nanorod array cathodes are expected to be applied to high power vacuum electronic devices as electron beam sources.