Gold Nanoparticle-Decorated Bamboo-Like 4H-SiC Nanowire Field Emitters With Low Turn-on Field and Minimal Current Fluctuations

The development of field emission (FE) devices with low turn-on field (Eto) and high current emission stability represents a significant challenge and a long-term research objective within the field of cold cathodes. In this study, we used an electrochemical anodic oxidation technique to fabricate bamboo-like SiC nanowire arrays, followed by the decoration of gold nanoparticles on their surfaces via magnetron sputtering to increase the number of effective electron emission sites. Subsequently, high-temperature sintering was applied to enhance the bonding between the SiC nanowires and the nanoparticles. Compared with the pristine SiC nanowire array, the Au/SiC nanowire array exhibits a significant reduction in Eto (from 0.83 to 0.43 V/μm), and the current emission fluctuation was only 2.9% during 3 h of operation, which represents an excellent level of performance in comparison to previously reported FE devices.