Observation of Ni silicide formations and field emission properties of Ni silicide nanowires

The Ni silicide nanowires were grown by physical vapor deposition. The morphological changes of silicide formation were observed on a gradient Ni film thickness, which visualized the critical thickness is 60–80 nm to grow nanowires. The field emission measurement provided uniform characteristics and high field enhancement factors were obtained to be 3180 and 3002 from the Ni silicide nanowires grown on a Si substrate and a tungsten plate, respectively. By using a conductive tungsten plate, the emission current was enhanced to be 172.5 μA/cm2 comparing to 76.5 μA/cm2 from a Si substrate at 5 V/μm.