Hierarchical WSe 2 Nanoflowers for Efficient Field Emission

This report is on the field emission properties of WSe2 nanoflowers synthesized via a solution-phase colloidal approach, uniformly deposited on Si/SiO2 substrates. Structural and spectroscopic data confirm the formation of highly crystalline nanoflowers with predominantly 1T′ phase content and minimal surface oxidation. Field emission measurements, performed in vacuum using a nanomanipulated tungsten probe, reveal a low turn-on voltage and a field enhancement factor ranging from ≈70 at cathode-anode separation distance of 100 nm, to ≈10 for distance increased to 900 nm, as resulting by the analysis in the framework of the Fowler–Nordheim model. WSe2 nanoflowers offer competitive performance combined with excellent stability, attributable to their hierarchical architecture and metallic character. These results demonstrate the potential of WSe2 nanoflowers as efficient cold cathode materials for next-generation vacuum electronic applications.