We report pyroelectric emission from PbZrxTi1-xO 3 (PZT) thin films on nanometer-sharp tips. The epitaxial PZT films are 30 nm thick and grown directly on single-crystal silicon tips. Pyroelectric emission occurs for heating rates of 50 °C/min in a 20 V/μm external field. The emission current is a maximum of 240 nA when the heating rate is 100 °C/min and the electric field strength is 6.7 V/μm. The emitted charge is ∼7 of that expected for a perfect thin film emitter of epitaxial PbZr xTi1-xO3. We calculate that pyroelectric emission can occur without an applied field if the heating rate exceeds 4.0 × 107 °C/min. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.

The authors report field emission from nanometer-sharp tips of polarized PbZrxTi1-xO3 (PZT), silicon, and platinum. The PZT nanoemitters are fabricated in a batch fabrication process from single-crystal silicon tips that are coated with a 30 nm thick film of crystalline PZT. The nanoemitters start to emit electrons at fields as low as 2 V/μm and reach threshold emission, or turn-on, at fields as low as 3.9 V/μm. The turn-on field is 3.9 V/μm for PbZr0.2Ti 0.8O3, 6.8 V/μm for PbZr0.52Ti 0.48O3, and 10.75 V/μm for PbZr0.8Ti 0.2O3. The silicon nanoemitters have an electron emission turn-on field of 7.2 V/μm, and the platinum nanoemitters have an electron emission turn-on field of 5.75 V/μm. Using a Fowler-Nordheim analysis, the calculated effective work function of the PbZr0.2Ti 0.8O3 film is 1.00 eV, and the field amplification factor is ∼1526. © 2013 American Vacuum Society.