Abstract
This letter reports the electrical and field-emission properties of Au-decorated boron nitride nanotubes (Au-BNNTs). The insulating BNNTs become metallic after Au coating as the Au coverage exceeds a critical value. The Au decoration modifies the work function of the BNNTs and, as a consequence, the field-emission current densities of Au-BNNTs are significantly enhanced. Correspondingly, the turn-on field of the Au-BNNTs is reduced to one third and the emission current density is increased by four orders in contrast to pure BNNTs. The experimental results demonstrate that such Au-BNNTs are promising electron field emitters.
| Original language | English |
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| Article number | 243105 |
| Journal | Applied Physics Letters |
| Volume | 92 |
| Issue number | 24 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2008 |