FABRICATION OF AMORPHOUS-CARBON-NITRIDE FIELD EMITTERS

To improve silicon field emitters, an amorphous-carbon-nitride (a-CN) coating was applied by helical resonator plasma-enhanced chemical vapo r deposition. By this process, a-CN was very uniformly coated on silic on tips without any damage. Microstructural and electrical investigati on of the silicon and a-CN coated field emitters were performed. a-CN coating lowered turn-on voltage and increased emission current. Negati ve electron affinity of carbon nitride is suggested for enhancing emis sion current. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.