THEORETICAL-STUDY OF ELECTRON FIELD-EMISSION FROM DIAMOND SURFACES

The electron field emission from diamond semiconductor is theoreticall y investigated using both a conventional theory and a model assuming a conduction subband in the band gap. It is found that surface states c an be capable of producing the current density with field magnitude co mparable to experiments even though we do not yet know a clear mechani sm to transport electrons to surface states evacuated by field emissio n. The assumed conduction channel which can be generated by impurities or defects is also found to be responsible for the measured high-curr ent emission at law fields. The obtained theoretical emission current is in agreement with experimental observation.