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Research Article

A HfC nanowire point electron source with oxycarbide surface of lower work function for high-brightness and stable field-emission

Shuai Tang1, Jie Tang1,2( ), Ta-wei Chiu1,2, Wataru Hayami1, Jun Uzuhashi1, Tadakatsu Ohkubo1, Fumihiko Uesugi1, Masaki Takeguchi1, Masanori Mitome1, Lu-Chang Qin3( )
National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047, Japan
Graduate School of Pure and Applied Science, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8857, Japan
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3255, USA
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Abstract

Electric field-induced point electron source is highly demanded for microscopy, spectroscopy, lithography, X-ray tubes, microwave devices, and data displays. However, the instability in emission current and requirement of ultrahigh vacuum have often limited its extensive applications. Herewith we report a single-crystalline HfC nanowire with oxycarbide emission surface for stable electron emission at 50 nA with fluctuations less than 1% in a vacuum of 4 × 10-7 Pa. The emitter has a low work function of 2.5 eV measured by the field emission Fowler-Nordheim curve and it is in good agreement with density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The energy spread is in a range of 0.21-0.26 eV with a corresponding reduced brightness 1.95 × 1011-3.81 × 1011 A·m-2·sr-1·V-1. The HfC nanowire with oxycarbide emission surface is a qualified candidate for the next-generation electron source with high brightness, large current, and low energy spread.

Keywords

hafnium carbideoxycarbidenanowireelectron emissionfield emission

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Nano Research
Volume 13 Issue 6,
June 2020
Pages 1620-1626
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-020-2782-0
Cite this article:
Tang S, Tang J, Chiu T-w, et al. A HfC nanowire point electron source with oxycarbide surface of lower work function for high-brightness and stable field-emission. Nano Research, 2020, 13(6): 1620-1626. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-2782-0
Topics:
Density functional theoryDisplay devices Electric fields ElectronsHafnium compoundsLuminanceNanowiresX-ray tubes

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Received: 20 January 2020
Revised: 20 March 2020
Accepted: 29 March 2020
Published: 12 May 2020
© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
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