Synthesis and field emission of patterned SnO2 nanoflowers

Abstract This article reports the synthesis and field emission of patterned SnO2 nanoflowers obtained by a simple method. A patterned Au catalyst film was prepared on the silicon wafer by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering and photolithographic patterning processes. The patterned SnO2 nanoflowers arrays, with a unit diameter of ∼ 50 μm, were synthesized via vapor phase transport method. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) are used to identify the surface morphology and composition of the as-synthesized SnO2 nanostructures. The mechanism of formation of SnO2 nanostructures was also discussed. The measurement of field emission (FE) showed that the as-synthesized SnO2 nanostructure arrays have a lower turn-on field of 2.6 V/μm at the current density of 0.1 μA/cm2. This approach must have a wide variety of applications such as fabrications of micro-optical components and micropatterned oxide thin films used in FE-based flat panel displays and sensor arrays.