GaN nanowire field emitters with the adsorption of Pt nanoparticles

We report Pt NP coated GaN NWs through CVD method and the fabrication of their field emitters. Pt NPs are attached on the top and surfaces of GaN NWs. With the Pt NP coating, it is found that the turn on field is reduced from 3.3 V mu m(-1) to 2.7 V mu m(-1) and the work function is decreased from 4.1 eV to 3.22 eV. In addition, DFT calculation results indicate that higher local electron states, which appear around the Fermi level, are mainly formed from N-2p, Pt-6s, and Pt-5d orbital hybridization, and will provide more electrons to the conduction band at a given operating voltage. Consequently, the field emission performance of GaN NWs can be effectively boosted by adsorbed Pt. Moreover, Pt NP coated GaN NWs are promising for electron emission devices, field emission displays and vacuum nano-electronic devices.