Well-aligned BaO nanowires were synthesized on ITO glass substrates by a hydrothermal process. The morphology and composition of the BaO nanowires were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction, X-ray diffraction, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The results confirmed that BaO nanowires had single crystalline cubic structures and grew along the [111] direction. The well-aligned BaO nanowires show superior field emission properties, and exhibited a low turn-on field (∼0.9 V μm−1), a low threshold field (∼3.59 V μm−1), a high field enhancement factor (β = 2463), and a good stability of the emission current. The field emission lamps fabricated by using the BaO nanowires as emitters display uniform and bright emission patterns under the diode mode. These results demonstrate that such BaO nanowires are promising for application in practical flat panel displays.
