Field emission from vertically oriented 2D manganese monosulfide sheets derived via a chemical route

Abstract

Herein, a manganese sulfide nanostructure was successfully synthesized via a chemical route under optimal conditions and coated on silicon substrates, and for the first time, field emission experiments on the vertically grown MnS nanosheets were performed at a base pressure of 1 × 10⁻⁸ mbar. The structural and morphological properties of the as-synthesized MnS nanostructures were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. Subsequently, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) studies were conducted to determine the chemical state and work function of MnS. The SEM and TEM results demonstrated the formation of an interconnected sheet-like structure of MnS. The synthesized MnS nanostructure emitter exhibited a high current density of 46 μA cm⁻² with an applied electric field of 14 V μm⁻¹. Furthermore, MnS was observed to possess good temporal stability. The reported findings show the potential of the MnS nanostructure emitter as an electron source in vacuum nanoelectronic/microelectronic systems.