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Field emission and photoluminescence of ZnO nanocombs

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Abstract

Three kinds of new comb-shape nanostructures of ZnO have been grown on single silicon substrates without catalyst-assisted thermal evaporation of Zn and active carbon powders. The morphology and structure of the prepared nanorods are determined on the basis of field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The growth mechanism of the ZnO nanocombs can be explained on the basis of the vapor–solid (VS) processes. In nanocombs 1 and nanocombs 2, the comb teeth grow along [0001] and the comb stem grows along [\(01\overline{1}0\)], while in nanocombs 3, nanoteeth grow along [\(01\overline{1}0\)] and stem grows along [0001]. The photoluminescence and field-emission properties of ZnO nanocombs 1–3 have been investigated. The turn-on electric field of ZnO nanocombs 1–3, which is defined as the field required to producing a current density of 10 μA/cm2, is 9, 7.7 and 7.1 V/μm, respectively. The field-emission performance relies not only on the tip’s radius of curvature and field enhancement factor, but also on the factor evaluating the degree of the screening effect.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (50902097), Three-Industry Basic Research Emphasis Project of Shenzhen (JC201104210013A), Basic Research Common Project of Shenzhen (JC201105170694A), Open Project of Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Micro-nano Photonic Information Technology (MN201107), Guangdong Natural Science Foundation of China (9451806001002303), National Natural Science Foundation of China (51002192) and Project supported by the Foundation for the Author of Excellent Doctoral Dissertation of Guangdong Province.

The authors thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51002192), Project supported by the Foundation for the Author of Excellent Doctoral Dissertation of Guangdong Province.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shenzhen Key Lab of Micro-nano Photonic Information Technology, College of Electronic Science and Technology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, Guangdong, P.R. China

    B. Wang, H. Y. Wu & Z. Q. Zheng

  2. State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, Nanotechnology Research Center, School of Physics and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, Guangdong, P.R. China

    Y. H. Yang

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  1. B. Wang
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Correspondence to B. Wang.

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Wang, B., Wu, H.Y., Zheng, Z.Q. et al. Field emission and photoluminescence of ZnO nanocombs. Appl. Phys. A 113, 549–556 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-013-7867-0

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