Characterizing and comparing the cathodoluminesence and field emission properties of Sb doped SnO2 and SnO2 nanowires

Sb doped SnO2 (SnO2:Sb) nanowires (NWs) were synthesized by thermal evaporation at 900 °C. Thin-film X-ray diffraction showed that as-synthesized nanowires were a single-phase rutile structure. Field emission scanning microscopy revealed that the nanowires had diameters of 80–120 nm and lengths of up to several hundreds microns long. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS), and an energy-filtering system were employed to map two-dimensional element concentration. HRTEM images further confirmed that the crystallinity of the nanowires was accompanied by crystal defects with lattice distortion as Sb was incorporated into a SnO2 nanowire. Cathodoluminescence (CL) spectrophotometer analysis has revealed blue and green emission peaks in both SnO2:Sb and pure SnO2 nanowires. The electron field emission values of the SnO2:Sb and SnO2 nanowires in the turn-on fields were estimated as ~ 4.9 and 6.5 V/μm, respectively; the current density was 1 μA/cm2.