Field emission characteristics of cesiated amorphous carbon films by negative carbon ion

Amorphous carbon (a-C) films and cesiated a-C films were synthesized on sil icon substrate by Cs ion gun sputter deposition system (Cs IGSDS). The prop erties of a-C film were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy, As the negative carbon ion ener gy increased, relative sp(3) ratio in the a-C film increased, and surface r oughness decreased. The field emission characteristics of the a-C films as a function of negative carbon ion energy were examined by diode type I-V me asurement at ultra high vacuum system. From I-V measurements, the threshold voltage increased with the increase of negative carbon ion energy, and the range from 11 to 16 V/mu m was obtained. To investigate the Cs effect, ces iated a-C films were prepared by Cs+ ion and C- ion co-deposition and field emission characteristics of the cesiated a-C films were observed, too. Com pared to non-cesiated a-C films, the threshold voltage is decreased by the Cs co-deposition and the value was about 6 V/mu m. In this study, we invest igate that the relation between carbon ion energy and field emission, and t he effect of Cs in the a-C films were examined. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S .A. All rights reserved.