ELECTRON-EMISSION FROM AMORPHOUS-CARBON NITRIDE FILMS

We propose a model of field electron emission from amorphous carbon ni tride films. According to this model, emission occurs at protrusions o f the film surface. Most of the emitted electrons come from states wit h energy within a rather narrow region about the Fermi level, which sh ifts with nitrogen concentration but remains within the mobility gap o f the film. The model reproduces reasonably well the observed variatio n of the emitted current with the externally applied electric field an d with the nitrogen concentration. (C) 1998 American Institute of Phys ics. [S0003-6951(98)03739-5].