Nanodiamond vacuum field emission integrated devices

The superb material properties of nanocrystalline diamond (nanodiamond) materials coupled with practical chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processing of deposited nitrogen-incorporated nanodiamond on variety of substrates, have promoted further interest in the use of these diamond-derived materials as electron field emitters. Experimentally, nanodiamond emitters have been observed to emit electrons at relatively low electric fields and generate useful current densities. In this work, recent development in nanodiamond vacuum field emission integrated electronic devices, viz., the nanodiamond triodes, transistors and integrated differential amplifiers are examined. The material properties, device structure and fabrication process, and the electrical performance of these devices are presented.