Intense field electron emission source designed from large area array of dense rutile TiO 2 nanopillars

Abstract

The uniform and highly dense nanopillars of rutile TiO 2 were synthesized by the hydrothermal method and demonstrated as a highly intense source for the application in field electron emission. The TiO 2 nanopillars formed by a bunch of the many nanorods were nearly perpendicular to FTO substrate. The stoichiometric composition and chemical properties of Ti and O were confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The rutile TiO 2 nanopillars transferred on the carbon tape to prepare cathode for field emission (FE) performance exhibit the superior current density of 1.03 mA/cm 2 at the applied electric field of 3.2 V/µm, and the lower turn-on field of 1.2 V/µm defined at a current density of 10 µA/cm 2 . The result of the FE revealed that rutile TiO 2 nanostructure enhances the FE without any coating, doping, and surface modifications. © 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.