Electron field emission from nitrogenated tetrahedral amorphous carbon investigated by current imaging tunneling spectroscopy

Electron field emission from nitrogenated tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta- C:N) films with and without H ion surface post-treatment is investigated by current imaging tunneling spectroscopy (CITS). The post-treated ta-C:N fil m shows a lower threshold electric field, a higher emission current, and de nser emission spots. The scanning tunneling microscopic (STM) images show m ore distinctive nanoclusters for the post-treated films compared to the unt reated films. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) shows that a lower thre shold electric field and a higher emission current density have been obtain ed from these clusters. Therefore, we believe that the electrons predominan tly emit from the sp(3) rich clusters during field emission. (C) 1999 Elsev ier Science B.V. All rights reserved.