Enhanced Field Electron Emission from Photocurrent Treated Nanostructured Indium Oxide Films

Abstract

Field electron emission currents from nanostructured films always have unsatisfied stability. This paper introduces a photocurrent treatment technique to enhance the filed emission properties, and gives a kind of nanostructured indium oxide film suitable for the technique. The products were prepared on patterned ITO glass substrate by using chemical vapor deposition method. With the increase of reaction time, the morphologies of the films changed from cocoonlike particles to hybrid thin films, and finally flowerlike nanostructures were formed. Photocurrent and field electron emission characteristics of the products have been studied. After photocurrent treatment, the flowerlike indium oxide films show stable field emission current (fluctuation is less than 5%), low field emission threshold (at 7.5 V/m, the current density is 1 mA/cm2) and high enhancement factor of electrical field of 778. The field emission test results validated that the photocurrent treated flowerlike indium oxide films may act as electron emitters and applied in display applications.