Electron emission from amorphous and nanocluster carbon films grown by the cathodic arc process

Carbon films with variable sp3rsp2 bonding ratio can be deposited on a variety of substrates at room temperature, using the cathodic vacuum arc deposition process. The variation in their surface morphology as a function of He and N2 partial pressure during growth have been investigated and it has been shown that the morphology of the films can be varied from the mirror-like smooth tetrahedrally bonded amorphous carbon ta-C.films through nanocluster to fibrous-type carbon. This paper reviews the work carried out on Field Emission from these various carbon films. Threshold fields as low as 1 Vrmm for emission current densities of 1mArcm2 and emission site densities of up to 104–105rcm2 have been obtained. q2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved