Jour. de Phys. IV, 6, C5-85 (1996). [PDF]

Silicon Field Emitters Coated with Diamond-like Carbon

B. Chung, H. Cho, S. Lee, T.-Y. Ko, J.-Y. Lee, D. Jeon, K.-R. Lee, B. K. Joo and M. H. Oh

We have coated the silicon field emission tips with diamond-like carbon (DLC). The array of tips was made n-type silicon using conventional dry etch. Before DLC coating, the tips were bombarded with argon ion to clean the surface. We found that this bombardment improved the aspect ratio of the tips and the DLC adhesion to the silicon tips. The DLC films was coated using radio frequency plasma assisted CVD using C₆H₆ gas. Initially, the end of the tips was coated with ball shpaed DLC. The current-voltage curve was measured in 10^-6 Torr pressure. The DLC coated tips emitted at lower onset voltage than as-prepared silicon tips.