Preparation and field emission study of low-dimensional ZnS arrays and tubules

In the present work, freestanding ZnS nanotipped arrays and hollow tubules have been generated using an electrodeposition technique via template synthesis. The structures and morphologies of the arrays and tubules were investigated using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. Electron field emission properties of the ZnS nanotipped arrays and tubules have been studied in a good vacuum condition at room temperature and current–voltage characteristics were found to follow the Fowler–Nordheim theory.

It is found that ZnS tubules show good electron field emission properties at low voltage with large field enhancement factor compared to ZnS solid arrays. Optical properties of such synthesised structures were also studied using ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometery.