Broadband anti-reflection and enhanced field emission from catalyst-free grown small-sized ITO nanowires at a low temperature

Abstract Small-sized indium tin oxide (ITO) nanowires were fabricated using the electron beam evaporation (EBE) technique at low temperature (∼150 °C) without adding any catalyst. The ITO nanowires have a typical diameter of around 10 nm and a length of more than 100 nm, with body-centered cubic crystal structures that grow along the 〈1 0 0〉 directions, as revealed by transmission electron microscopy. The growth mechanism of the branched ITO nanowires was found to be a vapor–solid process. The nanowire films show a broadband anti-reflection property due to the graded refraction index from the film surface to the substrate. Enhanced field emission properties with a low turn-on electric field and a high field enhancement factor were also observed in the ITO nanowires.