Field nanoemitter: One-dimension Al4C3 ceramics

As a kind of ionic (or salt-like) carbide, Al4C3 hardly any active functions have been found except for structure material purposes. However, considering the unique characteristic features of its crystal structure, we think Al4C3 in fact might have huge potential for exhibiting active functionality on field-emission application. Herein, we report for the first time the catalyst-free synthesis and excellent field emission properties of Al4C3 one-dimension (1-D) nanostructures. The 1-D nanostructures acting as cold electron emitters display excellent field emission performance with the turn-on field as low as 1.4–2.0 V μm−1 and the threshold field down to 4.2–4.4 V μm−1. Such emitters are technologically useful, because they can be easily fabricated on large substrates, and the synthesis process is simple and broadly applicable. The findings conceptually provide new opportunities for the application of Al4C3 ceramic material in vacuum microelectronic devices.