Probing Field Emission from Boron Carbide Nanowires

High density boron carbide nanowires are grown by an improved carbon thermal reduction technique. Transmission electron microscopy and electron energy lose spectroscopy of the sample show that the synthesized nanowires are B₄C with good crystallization. The field emission measurement for an individual boron nanowire is performed by using a Pt tip installed in the focused ion beam system. A field emission current with enhancement factor of 10⁶ is observed and the evolution process during emission is also carefully studied. Furthermore, a two-step field emission with stable emission current density is found from the high-density nanowire film. Our results together suggest that boron carbide nanowires are promising candidates for electron emission nanodevices.