Excellent field emission properties of VO_2(A) nanogap emitters in air

摘要

VO2(A) emitters with a 10 nm gap between the emitter and the collector were fabricated with the aid of focused ion beam etching. Due to the extremely small electrode gap, high emission currents (upto 53 mu A at 1 V) and excellent emission stability were achieved in air with a turn-on voltage as low as 0.46 V. The field emission behavior exhibits a temperature dependence, which is attributed to the temperature-induced reduction of the work function. This work provides a practical way to ease the demand of high vacuum and high operation voltage in vacuum devices, which is helpful for developing low-power nanoscale vacuum devices. Published by AIP Publishing.