Observation of field emission from GeSn nanoparticles epitaxially grown on silicon nanopillar arrays

We apply molecular beam epitaxy to grow GeSn-nanoparticles on top of Si-nanopillars patterned onto p-type Si wafers. We use x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to confirm a metallic behavior of the nanoparticle surface due to partial Sn segregation as well as the presence of a superficial Ge oxide. We report the observation of stable field emission (FE) current from the GeSn-nanoparticles, with turn on field of 65 V mu m(-1) and field enhancement factor beta similar to 100 at anode-cathode distance of similar to 0.6 mu m. We prove that FE can be enhanced by preventing GeSn nanoparticles oxidation or by breaking the oxide layer through electrical stress. Finally, we show that GeSn/p-Si junctions have a rectifying behavior.