Extended vapor–liquid–solid growth and field emission properties of aluminium nitride nanowires

Hexagonal AlN (h-AlN) nanowires with an average diameter of around 15 nm have been prepared by an extended vapor–liquid–solid growth technique and characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, Raman spectroscopy and field emission measurements. This preparation is a rather simple route for bulk fabrication of h-AlN nanowires. The promising field emission property observed for h-AlN nanowires points to the important application potential of this material.