Structures and field emission properties of silicon nanowire arrays implanted with energetic carbon ion beam

Structures and field emission properties of silicon nanowire arrays (SiNWAs), which were fabricated by using of electroless-chemical etching method and post-implanted by the energetic carbon ion beam with an average energy of 20 keV at various doses, have been investigated. Structural analysis of SEM and XPS shows that SiC compound had been formed at the top of SiNWAs, and Si-C/Si composite nanostructure had been obtained. Compared to as-grown SiNWAs, the C ion implanted SiNWAs have better field emission characteristics. The turn-on field and the applied field at 100 microA/cm2 are reduced from 5.01 V/microm and 5.93 V/microm for as-grown SiNWAs to 4.45 V/microm and 5.40 V/microm for SiNWAs implanted at the dose of 1 x 10(16) cm(-2), respectively. However, large implanting amounts made serious structural damages at the top of nanowires, and impaired the field emission characteristics. The influence of energetic C ion implantation on the structures and field emission properties of SiNWAs has been discussed.