Photoluminescence and field-emission properties of Cu-doped SnO2 nanobelts

By using a thermal evaporation and condensation method, Cu-doped SnO₂ nanobelts were synthesized on silicon substrate. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy studies of Cu-doped SnO₂ nanobelts demonstrate that the nanobelts are single-crystal structures and Cu is homogeneously doped into the SnO₂ lattice. X-ray diffraction further confirmed the single-phase nature of these nanobelts. The photoluminescence measurements of the nanobelts and samples annealed in oxygen were measured from 77 K to 300 K. Field-emission measurements demonstrated that the Cu-doped nanobelts possessed good performance with a turn-on field of ∼2.9 V/μm and a threshold field of ∼4.8 V/μm.