Herein, we report the one step arc plasma synthesis of the GdB6 (Gadolinium hexaboride) nanoparticles and its field emission (FE) characteristics on tungsten point substrate (GdB6/ W). The SEM /TEM analysis revealed the GdB6 nanoparticles on W point substrate exhibit irregular shaped, grainy, dense, course morphology, i.e. uniformly covering the entire tip substrate surface. For GdB6/W point source, the values of the turn-on and threshold fields, defined as field required to draw an emission current density similar to 1 mA/cm(2) and similar to 100 mA/cm(2), respectively are found to be similar to 2.2 and similar to 2.7 V/mm, for anodecathode separation of similar to 1 mm. Interestingly, a very high emission current density of similar to 3.5 A/cm(2) has been drawn from the GdB6/W point emitter at relatively lower applied field of similar to 6.4 V/mm. The field enhancement factor found to be similar to 10,250. The GdB6/W point electron source exhibits a good emission current stability at similar to 10 mA for a period of 6 hr. The emission current stability is enumerated in terms of standard deviation and its magnitude has been measured to be only 1.72% with respect to the average value. The superlative field emission characteristics signify the GdB6/W point electron source as potential candidates for vacuum micro/nanoelectronics device applications.

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