ELECTRON FIELD-EMISSION CHARACTERISTICS OF PLANAR DIAMOND FILM ARRAY SYNTHESIZED BY CHEMICAL-VAPOR-DEPOSITION PROCESS

Selected area deposition of diamond films on silicon substrates was su ccessfully achieved using the patterned Pt layer as a nucleation inhib itor in the chemical vapor deposition process. The planar diamond film array thus made possesses good electron field emission properties, th at is, emission current density of (J(e))(Si)=150 mu A/cm(2) (under 23 .6 V/mu m) and turn on field of (E-o)(Si)=10 V/mu m. Precoating a thin Au layer (20 nm) on a Si surface further increased the emission curre nt density to (J(e))(Au/Si)=960 mu A/cm(2) (under 23.6 V/mu m) with (E -o)(Au/Si)=10 V/mu m. The effective work functions (phi) estimated by Fowler-Nordheim plots of the I-V characteristics are (phi)(Si)=0.059 e V and (phi)(Au/Si)=0.085 eV. The emission properties of both planar di amond film arrays satisfy the requirement for applying as the electron emitters in the Bat panel displays. (C) 1997 American Institute of Ph ysics.