2.5: Enhanced field emission from nanowires of silicon carbide by thermal heating

The temperature dependence of field emission properties of silicon carbide (SiC) nanowires was studied in a range from 27°C to 300°C by using transparent anode technique. The SiC nanowires of diameter of around 15 nm were grown on silicon carbide substrate by thermal heating using iron as catalyst. The results show that above a threshold temperature, the field emission current increases significantly with increasing temperature. As a consequence, the turn-on field for obtaining emission current density of 10 μA/cm² decreases from 4.25 MV/m at 27°C to 1.23 MV/m at 300°C. The physical explanation was given to the experimental observation.