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Fabrication and Field-Emission Properties of Vertically-Aligned Tapered [110]Si Nanowire Arrays Prepared by Nanosphere Lithography and Electroless Ag-Catalyzed Etching

Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National Central University, Chung-Li District, Taoyuan City, Taiwan, R.O.C.

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K. Q. Lin

Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National Central University, Chung-Li District, Taoyuan City, Taiwan, R.O.C.

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Y. C. Chen

Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National Central University, Chung-Li District, Taoyuan City, Taiwan, R.O.C.

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, and

S. L. Cheng

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6609-907X

Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National Central University, Chung-Li District, Taoyuan City, Taiwan, R.O.C.

Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, National Central University, Chung-Li District, Taoyuan City, Taiwan, R.O.C.

E-mail Address: slcheng@ncu.edu.tw

Corresponding author.

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https://doi.org/10.1142/S1793292018501084Cited by:2 (Source: Crossref)

Abstract

In this study, the controllable fabrication of a variety of vertically aligned, single-crystalline [110]-oriented Si nanowire arrays with sharp tips on (110)Si substrates is achieved using a combined self-assembled nanosphere lithography and multiple electroless Ag-catalyzed Si etching processes. All of the experiments were performed at room temperature. The morphological evolution and formation mechanism of long tapered [110]Si nanowire arrays during the multiple tip-sharpening cycle processes have been investigated by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and water contact angle measurements. Field emission measurements demonstrate that the field-emission behaviors of all nanowire samples produced in this study agree well with the Fowler–Nordheim theory, and the produced long tapered [110]Si nanowire array possesses superior electron emission characteristics, with a very low turn-on field of 1.4V/ $μ$ $μ$ m and a high field enhancement factor of 3816. The simple and room temperature fabrication of the well-ordered long tapered [110]Si nanowire array and its excellent electron field emission performance suggest that it can serve as a good candidate for applications in high-performance Si-based vacuum electronic nanodevices.

Keywords:

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