Electrochemically Exfoliated Black Phosphorus Nanosheets – Prospective Field Emitters

Abstract Herein we report field emission (FE) investigations on an electrochemically exfoliated few‐layered black phosphorus nanosheet emitter at a base pressure of approximately 1 × 10 –8 mbar. The turn‐on electric field required to draw an emission current density of approximately 10 μA/cm 2 is found to be about 4.2 V/μm. Furthermore, few‐layered black phosphorus nanosheet emitters deliver an emission current density of about 170 μA/cm 2 at an applied field of about 7.5 V/μm. The emission current vs. time plot measured at preset current values of about 5 μA shows emission current fluctuations within ±10 % of the average value, indicating the highly stable nature of the black phosphorus field emitter. Thus, the 2D black phosphorus nanosheets synthesized using the simple electrochemical exfoliation method can be utilized for micro/nanoelectronics and flat panel FE display applications.