Diamond-carbon nanocomposites: applications for diamond film deposition and field electron emission

Diamond-carbon nanocomposites (DCN) containing diamond and graphitic partic les, both a few nanometers in size, were studied as the material for field electron emission. Diamond-carbon mass ratio and grain size were varied to optimize held emission properties. The stable and uniform electron emission was observed at fields E = 10 V mu m(-1) with a negligible hysteresis of I -V curves. Treatment in microwave hydrogen plasma was found to reduce the t hreshold field for emission owing to preferential etching of carbon compone nt and surface relief sharpening. Ultrathin chemical vapour deposition diam ond films can be easily grown on DCN due to the very high nucleation densit y inherent to this composite. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights res erved.