Filed emission characterizes of size-controllable Si nanopillar arrays

Here, large-scale ordered periodic silicon pillar arrays were prepared using nanosphere lithography. And, the diameter and the density of nanopillar arrays are determined by the initial diameter of polystyrene (PS) spheres. In our experiment, the nanopillar has a diameter of approximately 50 nm, and the density of silicon pillar is 6x10(9)/cm(2). This array shows a field emission property with a low turn-on field of 9.8 V mu m(-1) at a current density of 10 mu A cm(-2). And the field enhancement factor is about 560. The Fowler-Nordheim plot obtained is linearly dependent, indicating that the emission current arises from the F-N tunnelling effect.