Electron emission from arc-modified diamond-like carbon films at low electric field

Applying the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique, diamond-like carbon ( DLC) films were prepared, Arc conditioning of these PLD thin films yields i ntense cold electron field emission (FE), with the turn-on field being as l ow as 1.4 V/mum. Tentative UV light irradiation resulted in an intense simu ltaneous FE and photoemission (FEPES) at a 10% level, indicating a rather e fficient field enhancement. The modified surface areas were characterized u sing techniques with outstanding surface sensitivity such as X-ray photoele ctron spectroscopy (XPS) or a high lateral resolution such as Micro-Raman a nd scanning tunneling field electron emission microscopy (FEEM) and spectro scopy (FEES). It was above all the application of the latter method which r evealed a prevailing intrinsic character of this particular FE effect. The lateral distribution of the activated electron-emitting dot matrix is rathe r non-uniform which still impedes display applications, However, replacemen t of radioactive foils in gas-analytical devices can be hopefully envisaged . (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.