A STUDY OF DIAMOND FIELD-EMISSION USING MICRO-PATTERNED MONOLITHIC DIAMOND TIPS WITH DIFFERENT SP(2) CONTENTS

Electron field emission from an array of micro-patterned monolithic di amond tips with varying sp(2) content has been systematically investig ated, The experimental results show that the field emission characteri stics can be improved and the turn-on electric field tan be reduced mo re than 50% by increasing sp(2) content. Two hypotheses are proposed a s an explanation of the effect of sp(2) content on the field emission characteristics of diamond tips: the lowering of the work function due to defect-induced band generated by sp(2) content in the diamond latt ice and an increase in the field enhancement actor due to embedded sp( 2)-diamond-sp(2) cascaded microstructures. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.