Large field enhancement at electrochemically grown quasi-1D Ni nanostructures withlow-threshold cold-field electron emission

Abstract

Ni nanorod arrays have been vertically grown on a Ta-coated Si substrate via anelectrodeposition process through the nanopores of a porous alumina membrane. Field emissionstudies of the samples are performed which show a considerable low-threshold field around5 V µm − 1. The field emission mechanism followed Fowler–Nordheim tunneling due to large fieldenhancement at the emitter tips. Low-dimensional structures of the nanorod tips providedthe large geometrical field enhancement and thus produce a high enough local or barrierfield for low-threshold cold-field electron emission. The cost-effective synthesis of verticallyaligned Ni nanorods on an Si substrate and low-threshold field emission properties canprovide a potential alternative to conventional carbon-based field emitters for low powerpanel applications.