PReparation of ZnO Nanowire Field Emitter Arrays and Their Device Applications

Large area nanowire field emitter arrays have potential applications in flat panel light source, X-ray source, and photodetector etc. In this invited talk, our recent progresses in the research of ZnO nanowire field emitter arrays and their applications in vacuum microelectronic devices will be presented. Large area ZnO nanowire field emitter arrays up to 8 inch diagonal size with high emission current were prepared. Gate-structured ZnO nanowire field emitter arrays with addressing and focusing capabilities were fabricated. Applications of nanowire field emitter in flat panel x-ray source and imaging detector were explored. Prototype of flat panel X-ray source using ZnO nanowire field emitters was fabricated and high resolution imaging capability was demonstrated. The feasibility of a large area high-sensitive detector using ZnO nanowire field emitters was also verified.