Ultra-Low-Voltage Schottky-Barrier Field-Enhanced Electron Emission From Gold Nanowires Electrochemically Grown in Modified Porous Alumina Templates

Superior field emission (FE) action has been observed from a tailored array of gold nanowires (AuNWs) grown in porous anodic alumina (PAA) templates. The turn-on voltage was found to be 0.2 V, which is far less than the values reported earlier for diamond-coated cathodes and carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Furthermore, the FE current was unaffected by the ambient gas pressure. Such a low-voltage FE is attributed here to the formation of a Schottky barrier at the interface of gold and amorphous alumina scales that remain on the AuNWs.