Field emission properties of vertically aligned iron nanocluster wires grown on a glass substrate

Vertically aligned nanocluster wires (NCWs) were synthesized on indium-tin-oxide-coated glass substrates via the thermal decomposition of Fe(CO)5 with a resistive heater under a magnetic field. The density of the aligned NCWs was controlled by varying the flow rate of the carrier gas. The low-density NCWs showed better field emission characteristics, with a low turn-on field of about 4V∕μm and a current density as high as 3mA∕cm2 at 7.6V∕μm. The field enhancement factor (γ) was determined to be ∼1200 for high-density NCWs and ∼1600 for low-density NCWs, which is comparable to those of carbon nanotubes.