ENHANCED FIELD-EMISSION OF DIAMOND-LIKE CARBON-FILMS DUE TO CESIATION

A treatment that lowers the threshold field for field emission and inc reases the emission site density from a nominally n-type diamondlike c arbon film is described, The film was deposited using an rf plasma of methane and nitrogen gases. The treatment involved deposition of cesiu m followed by a low temperature anneal, Field emission measurements we re used to characterize the threshold field and emission site density before and after cesium treatment. Ultraviolet photoemission was used to study the effect of cesium on the work function. Dramatic improveme nts Co held emission by cesiation cannot be generalized to all diamond like samples, as similar treatment of a type IIb single-crystal (p-typ e) diamond did not produce as pronounced an improvement in turn-on fie ld or emission site density. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.