Selective growth of β-SiC whisker on a patterned Si (111) substrate for a field emission device

β-SiC whiskers were grown via a vapor-solid (VS) reaction on two types of substrates; bare Si (111) and SiO2-coated Si (111). Different growth behaviors of β-SiC whiskers were observed for each substrate. β-SiC whiskers grew only on the bare Si substrate, not on the SiO2-coated Si surface. Therefore, β-SiC whiskers could be selectively grown along the patterns on the SiO2-coated Si substrate. The turn-on field and the maximum current density of the specimens using selectively grown whiskers along the patterns on the SiO2-coated Si substrate were 2.0 V/μm and 1.01 mA/cm2, respectively. The converted curve of I–V characteristics of β-SiC whiskers by the Fowler–Nordheim equation maintained a linear slope.