International Field Emission Society
IFES'96
Proceedings of the 43^rd International Field Emission Symposium

J. Phys. IV France 06 (1996) C5-85-C5-89
DOI: 10.1051/jp4:1996513

Silicon Field Emitters Coated with Diamond-Like Carbon

B. Chung¹, H. Cho¹, S. Lee¹, T.-Y. Ko¹, J.-Y. Lee¹, D. Jeon¹, K.-R. Lee², B.K. Joo³ and M.H. Oh<sup>3

1</sup>  Myong Ji University, Department of Physics, Yongin Kyunggi-Do, Seoul 449-728, Korea
²  Division of Ceramics, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 131, Cheongryang, Seoul 130-650, Korea
³  Division of Electronics and Information Technology, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 131, Cheongryang, Seoul 130-650, Korea

Abstract
We have coated the silicon field emission tips with diamond-like carbon (DLC). The array of tips was made of 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 film was coated using radio frequency plasma assisted-CVD using C₆H₆ gas. Initially, the end of the tips was coated with ball-shape DLC. The current-voltage curve was measured in 10^-6 Torr pressure. The DLC-coated tips emitted current at lower onset voltage than as-prepared silicon tips.

© EDP Sciences 1996