Electron field emission for ultrananocrystalline diamond films

Ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) films 0.1–2.4 μm thick were conformally deposited on sharp single Si microtip emitters, using microwave CH4–Ar plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition in combination with a dielectrophoretic seeding process. Field-emission studies exhibited stable, extremely high (60–100 μA/tip) emission current, with little variation in threshold fields as a function of film thickness or Si tip radius. The electron emission properties of high aspect ratio Si microtips, coated with diamond using the hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) process were found to be very different from those of the UNCD-coated tips. For the HFCVD process, there is a strong dependence of the emission threshold on both the diamond coating thickness and Si tip radius. Quantum photoyield measurements of the UNCD films revealed that these films have an enhanced density of states within the bulk diamond band gap that is correlated with a reduction in the threshold field for electron emission. In additio...

[1]  Michael W. Geis,et al.  Diamond emitters fabrication and theory , 1996 .

[2]  Robert P. H. Chang,et al.  Electron emission properties of Si field emitter arrays coated with nanocrystalline diamond from fullerene precursors , 1997 .

[3]  A. Prokhorov,et al.  Scanning tunnelling microscopy: application to field electron emission studies , 1999 .

[4]  Dieter M. Gruen,et al.  Tem characterization of nanodiamond thin films , 1998 .

[5]  A. Huston,et al.  LASER-HEATED RADIATION DOSIMETRY USING TRANSPARENT THERMOLUMINESCENT GLASS , 1996 .

[6]  Sungho Jin,et al.  Defect‐enhanced electron field emission from chemical vapor deposited diamond , 1995 .

[7]  J. C. Twichell,et al.  A new surface electron-emission mechanism in diamond cathodes , 1998, Nature.

[8]  V. Zhirnov,et al.  Electron Emission From Diamond Films , 1998 .

[9]  Dieter M. Gruen,et al.  Buckyball microwave plasmas: Fragmentation and diamond‐film growth , 1994 .

[10]  David A. Horner,et al.  Theoretical Studies of Growth of Diamond (110) from Dicarbon , 1996 .

[11]  D. Gruen,et al.  Control of diamond film microstructure by Ar additions to CH4/H2 microwave plasmas , 1998 .

[12]  L. Colombo,et al.  On the electrical activity of sp2-bonded grain boundaries in nanocrystalline diamond , 1999 .

[13]  J. Jaskie Diamond-Based Field-Emission Displays , 1996 .

[14]  L. Schlapbach,et al.  Field emission properties of nanocrystalline chemically vapor deposited-diamond films , 1999 .

[15]  R. Fowler,et al.  Electron Emission in Intense Electric Fields , 1928 .

[16]  R. Chang,et al.  Morphology and electron emission properties of nanocrystalline CVD diamond thin films , 1997 .

[17]  R. Chang,et al.  Synthesis and electron field emission of nanocrystalline diamond thin films grown from N2/CH4 microwave plasmas , 1997 .

[18]  V. D. Frolov,et al.  Grain boundary field electron emission from CVD diamond films , 1999 .

[19]  M. A. Timofeyev,et al.  Scanning tunneling microscope study of diamond films for electron field emission , 2000 .

[20]  E. I. Givargizov Ultrasharp tips for field emission applications prepared by the vapor–liquid–solid growth technique , 1993 .

[21]  J. D. Woodhouse,et al.  Diamond cold cathode , 1991, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[22]  David C. Ingram,et al.  Cold field emission from CVD diamond films observed in emission electron microscopy , 1991 .

[23]  D. Goodwin,et al.  Growth on the reconstructed diamond (100) surface , 1993 .

[24]  B. Derjaguin,et al.  Vapor growth of diamond on diamond and other surfaces , 1981 .

[25]  V. Zhirnov,et al.  Fabrication of field emission display prototype based on Si field emission arrays with diamond coating , 1997 .

[26]  V. Zhirnov,et al.  WIDE BAND GAP MATERIALS FOR FIELD EMISSION DEVICES , 1997 .