ELECTRON FIELD-EMISSION FROM AMORPHOUS TETRAHEDRALLY BONDED CARBON-FILMS

Electron field emission from two amorphous, tetrahedrally bonded diamo ndlike carbon films, one with (a-tC:N), and a second without nitrogen doping (a-tC), prepared by pulsed laser deposition has been investigat ed using a scanning probe apparatus with micrometer spatial resolution . Electric fields of 100 V/mu m (180 V/mu m) were required to initiate emission from our a-tC:N (a-tC) films; however, once emission was est ablished at a particular location, electrons could be drawn at average fields as low as 10 V/mu m (60 V/mu m) from the same region. The init iation of emission was concomitant with electrical discharges which we re observed by video techniques. These discharges left craters with mi crometer dimensions on the surfaces of otherwise smooth films. (C) 199 6 American Vacuum Society.