Growth, optical, and field emission properties of aligned CdS nanowires

Abstract

Here, we demonstrate the synthesis of aligned CdS nanowires by a solvothermal process where the alignment of the nanowires was controlled by tuning the reaction conditions. The normal and photoassisted field emission properties of the aligned CdS nanowires were studied. The turn-on field is found to be 0.68 V/μm which is much lower than the reported values. From the I−t plot, it is shown that the emission current remains nearly constant over 4 h at preset current value of 5 μA. Upon illumination, the photofield emission current shows a reproducible switching property with a rise in the current level of almost 50% of the initial value. The field emission properties indicate promising applications in field emission based devices.