Highly Stable Field Emission from a Tungsten Diselenide Monolayer on Zinc Oxide Nanowire by Geometrically Modulating Hot Electrons

Compared with traditional thermal electron sources, field-emission electron sources have many advantages, such as high brightness, coherence, and suitability for miniaturization. However, their instability has prevented their widespread use. Stable field emission from a hybrid structure with a tungsten diselenide (WSe2) monolayer on zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires is achieved by geometrically modulating the WSe2 curvature. It is found that an emitter with a lower WSe2 curvature induces hotter electrons during field emission, which results in a low turn-on field and high stability. Considering the similarity of 2D materials, a general approach for obtaining a highly stable field emitter using a 2D-1D hybrid structure is provided.