C-axis oriented ZnO nanocones have been synthesized by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on a Si substrate. The nanocones are 100-200 nm wide at the base and <20 nm at the tip, and are distributed fairly uniformly on the substrate at a density of approximately 100 mu m(-2). The field emission measurement of ZnO nanocones reveals that they have a large field enhancement factor of 2216 and low turn-on field of 2.57 V/mu m; the former is greater than that of ZnO nanorods with a comparable area density, suggesting that the tapered cone-like morphology is more efficient for field emission displays. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.