The electron affinity (EA) of various terminations of diamond surfaces
has been calculated by the ab-initio pseudopotential method. The bare
, reconstructed (100) and (111) surfaces are found to have positive EA
s of 0.5 eV and 0.35 eV, respectively. The hydrogen-terminated surface
s 1 x 1(100):2H, 2 x 1(100):H and (111):H have sizeable negative EAs o
f orders -2.4 eV, -2.0 eV and -2.0 eV, respectively. Oxygen terminatio
ns give large postive EAs. The barrier height of a diamond/graphite Sc
hottky barrier is found. These data are used to derive a band diagram
for diamond and diamond-like carbon field emitters. The main barrier f
or electron emission from diamond is at the back contact, and nitrogen
deep donors aid emission by creating a depletion layer that reduces t
he tunnelling distance. Diamond-like carbon has sizeable positive EAs,
the main barrier is at the front surface, and nitrogen is a weak shal
low donor that raises the Fermi level to lower the barrier. (C) 1998 E
lsevier Science S.A.