Field emission properties of electrodeposited cobalt nanowire arrays grown in anodic aluminum oxide

摘要

The excellent vertically aligned cobalt nanowire arrays were electrodeposited into anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates. Each nanowire has the same length with 20 μm and the diameter with 60 nm. The field emission characteristics of the nanowires were firstly studied based on current-voltage measurements and the Fowler-Nordheim equation. The electron field emission measurements on the samples showed a turn-on field (1 mA/cm~2) of 1.66 V/μm, a field enhancement factor of β = 3054 and a current density of 600 mA/cm~2 at a relatively low voltage of 4.3 V/μm. The nanowire arrays could be an ideal alternative to carbon nanotubes and ZnO nanowires for the fabrication of flat panel displays.