A Si nano–micro-wire array on a Si(111) substrate and field emission device applications

A large number of Si wires on Si(111) can be fabricated selectively by the vapor–liquid–solid growth method with a high aspect ratio greater than 100. The diameter of the wire can be controlled from less than a micron to a few hundred microns. We propose a novel smart field electron emission device using silicon nano-wires fabricated by this vapor–liquid–solid growth method, and demonstrate field electron emission with a quite low operation voltage from a gated silicon nano-wire. The threshold voltage is about 13 V, and the value is similar to those for gated carbon-nanotube field emitters. The emission current reaches 10 nA at 15 V gate voltage.