Abstract
Field emission characteristics of ultra-nanocrystalline diamond (UNCD) have recently caught much attraction due to its importance in technological applications. In this work, we have fabricated lateral-field emitters comprised of UNCD films, which were deposited in CH 4 /Ar medium by microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition method. The substrates, silicon-on-insulator (SOI) or SiO 2 -coated silicon, were pre-treated by mixed-powders-ultrasonication process for forming diamond nuclei to facilitate the synthesis of UNCD films on these substrates. Lateral electron field emitters can thus be fabricated either on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) or silicon substrates. The lateral emitters thus obtained possess large field enhancement factor (β = 1500-1721) and exhibit good electron field emission properties, regardless of the substrate materials used. The electron field emission can be turned on at 5.25-5.50 V/μm, attaining 5500-6000 mA/mm 2 at 12.5 V/μm (100 V applied voltage). © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.