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Electron Field Emission Enhancement of Vertically Aligned Ultrananocrystalline Diamond‐Coated ZnO Core–Shell Heterostructured Nanorods
Author(s) -
Sankaran Kamatchi Jothiramalingam,
Afsal Manekkathodi,
Lou ShiuCheng,
Chen HuangChin,
Chen Chulung,
Lee ChiYoung,
Chen LihJuann,
Tai NyanHwa,
Lin INan
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.201301293
Subject(s) - nanorod , materials science , field electron emission , diamond , nanotechnology , core (optical fiber) , shell (structure) , optoelectronics , electron , composite material , physics , quantum mechanics
Enhanced electron field emission (EFE) behavior of a core–shell heterostructure, where ZnO nanorods (ZNRs) form the core and ultrananocrystalline diamond needles (UNCDNs) form the shell, is reported. EFE properties of ZNR‐UNCDN core–shell heterostructures show a high emission current density of 5.5 mA cm −2 at an applied field of 4.25 V μm −1 , and a low turn‐on field of 2.08 V μm −1 compared to the 1.67 mA cm −2 emission current density (at an applied field of 28.7 V μm −1 ) and 16.6 V μm −1 turn‐on field for bare ZNRs. Such an enhancement in the field emission originates from the unique materials combination, resulting in good electron transport from ZNRs to UNCDNs and efficient field emission of electrons from the UNCDNs. The potential application of these materials is demonstrated by the plasma illumination measurements that lowering the threshold voltage by 160 V confirms the role of ZNR‐UNCDN core–shell heterostructures in the enhancement of electron emission.