Field emission from electron-beam-irradiated bulk diamond

In order to extract electrons from bulk diamond, electron-beam EB.irradiation that controls the surface resistance of synthetic diamond was developed. For slab-shaped bulk diamond which has various surface resistances, the characteristics of the emission current against the cathode voltage were fitted to a Fowler–Nordheim F–N.plot, which suggests that field emission takes place. Judging from the gradient of the F–N plot before and after EB irradiation, this method produces a low-resistance and low-work function diamond surface. The surface conductive layer formed by electron irradiation contributes electron emission from bulk diamond. Four spot patterns were observed after EB irradiation with a large emission angle of about 458. Using a bulk diamond stylus, work functions of 0.17 eV were measured from F–N plot gradients. In the case of the diamond stylus, some spots were observed within the emission angle of 178. q1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.