Band-gap dependence of field emission from one-dimensional nanostructures grown on n-type and p-type silicon substrates

Field emission of electrons from narrow-band-gap and wide-band-gap one-dimensional nanostructures were studied. N-type silicon substrates enhanced the emission from the low-band-gap silicon nanowires and carbon nanotubes, whereas p-type substrates were a better choice for field emission from wide-band-gap silicon carbon nitride nanocrystalline thin films and nanorods. The role of the substrate-nanostructure interface was modeled based on different junction mechanisms to explain, qualitatively, the fundamentally different emission behavior of these nanostructures when n- and p-type silicon substrates were used. The results could be explained on the basis of simple carrier transport across the silicon-silicon nanowire interface and subsequent tunneling of electrons for the silicon nanowires. Schottky barrier theory can explain the better field emission of electrons from the n-type silicon supported carbon nanotubes. The decreased barrier height at the interface of the silicon-silicon carbon nitride heterojunction, when p-type silicon substrate was used, could explain the superior field emission in comparison to when n-type silicon substrates were used.