Abstract
Wurtzite structured zinc sulfide (ZnS) nanowire arrays are synthesized on silicon (111) wafers by a facile evaporation--condensation approach. These ZnS nanowire arrays possess predominant field emission properties with a low turn-on field of 2.9 V mu m-1, a low threshold field of 4.25 V mu m-1, a high field-enhancement factor (over 2700), and a high stability with a low fluctuation (~0.8%). The improved field emission performance of these ZnS nanowire arrays is attributed to their specific crystallographic feature--array structures with nanotips and high single crystallinity. These results suggest that such ZnS nanowire arrays can be used as building blocks for field emitters.