The growth of Sea-urchin-like AlN nanostructures by modified CVD and their Field Emission properties

AlN complex nanostructures were fabricated by using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method which was carried out at a low moderate temperature (~750 °C) and without any catalyst. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-Ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Raman scattering spectrum were used to characterize the microstructures and morphologies of the products. The FESEM results of samples exhibit unordered nanoneedle lawn-like interspersed by the Sea-urchin-like morphology, in which many needle-like nanostructures with the length of 500 nm grow radially from a central nucleus. The results of the X-ray, TEM and Raman scattering spectrum indicate that the samples have a preferential growth along the [0001] direction good quality AlN nanostructure. The field emission device testing shows that the Sea-urchin-like nanostructure has a very low turn-on electric field of 3.6 V/μm (0.01 mA/cm2) and a very high field enhancement factor β (2.1×103) at room temperature. It suggests that it can be used for field emission displays and vacuum microelectronic devices.