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SmB 6 is believed as an ideal candidate for FE applications because of their unique properties. Up to date, the effect of image potential on the field emission (FE) behaviors of one-dimensional nanostructures is still unclear in experiments, and thus it becomes a challenging issue for the researchers. In this paper, the effect of image potential on FE properties of SmB 6 nanowires are detailed studied by combination of experimental results and the generalized Schottky-Nordheim (SN) model. The experimental results show that they have a turn-on field of 3.4 V/μm (at 10 μΑ/cm2). Meanwhile, the image potential factor of SmB 6 nanowires is calculated to be equal to 1 based on our model, which is resemble to ideal metal plane.

Lanthanum hexaboride (LaB 6 ) nanowires have attracted much attention due to their outstanding physical properties. In order to enhance the developments of LaB 6 nanowires, it is essential to study the field emission (FE) properties of LaB 6 nanowires in different environments. Here, we investigate the effect of oxygen (O 2 ) on the FE behaviors of LaB 6 nanowires. And it is found that the oxygen content attaching on the surface of LaB 6 nanowires strongly affect their FE properties.

As a typcial kondo insulator, SmB 6 has attracted most of attention in recent years. But their corresponding nanostructures are hard to fabricate due to the growth technique. In this paper, uniform SmB 6 nanocone arrays have been successfully fabricated by a simple chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The field emission (FE) behaviors of SmB 6 nanocone arrays were investigated to reveal their surface properties. FE measurement results show that SmB 6 nanocone arrays have a low turn-on electric field of 1.84 V/μm (at 10 μA/cm2) and good emission stability, which may have potential applications in FE area.

The B/LaB 6 hierarchical heterojunction nanostructures have been successfully fabricated on Si substrate by CVD technique. The branch-like morphology may be beneficial to improving their field emission (FE) properties by increasing the aspect ratio or growth density of the emitters. The results show that the threshold field of the B/LaB 6 branch-like nanoheterojunctions is 21.6 V/μm (@1 mA/cm2) and their maximum field current density can reach 4.8 mA/cm2 (at 27.5 V/μm). It is suggested a novel Ohmic-contact LaB 6 nanoheterojunction to promote their rapid applications in FE area in future.

Boron nanostructures (nanowires and nanotubes) have been thought as ideal nanomaterials for building optoelectronic nanodevices because of their high conductivity, large elastic modulus and high melting-point. In our studies, it is found that boron nanostructures have a low turn-on field and high emission uniformity. Moreover, boron nanostructures can endure a high emission current, which suggests that they may have potential application in field emission area.

Field emission display is a competitive technology for next generation flat-panel displays. Self-assembled nanomaterial cold cathodes are easier to fabricate than Spindt-type tip arrays and therefore low cost fabrication on large area could be achieved [1]. In this study, dual-gate-structure vacuum electron source arrays using CuO nanowire field emitters were fabricated and their potential application in field emission display has been explored.