Electron emission from nanostructured diamond

摘要

Strong and sustained electron emission at low electric fields has been observed in undoped, nano-structured diamond. The cold cathode emitters consist of a layer of nanometer-size diamond particulates coated on a silicon substrate which is subsequently heat treated in a hydrogen plasma for activationElectron emission for a current density of 10 mA/cm~2 is observed at an applied field of 3-5V/#mu#m. We attribute this excellent emissionproperty to the high defect density in the nano-structured diamond particles and the low electron affinity associated with the diamond surface. The emitters are useful for applications such as flat panel displays as, in addition to the very low fields required, they can easily be deposited on large area substrates by low-cost coating techniques and do not require complicated microtip fabrication processes.