MECHANISM OF FIELD-EMISSION FROM CARBON MATERIALS

Field emission in diamond and graphite-like polycrystalline films is i nvestigated experimentally. It is shown that the emission efficiency i ncreases as the nondiamond carbon phase increases; for graphite-like f ilms the threshold electric field is less than 1.5 V/mu m, and at 4 V/ mu m the emission current reaches 1 mA/cm(2), while the density of emi ssion centers exceeds 10(6) cm(-2). A general mechanism explaining the phenomenon of electron field emission from materials containing graph ite-like carbon is proposed. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.