Field emission from a-GaN films deposited on Si (100)

Amorphous gallium nitride (a-GaN) films have been deposited on Si (100) substrates using ion-assisted deposition. The deposited films were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). XRD confirms the amorphous nature of the films and AFM showed nanostructures in the films. The field electron emission from the film was obtained in a probe-hole field emission microscope, and the current–voltage (I–V) characteristics were studied. The corresponding Fowler–Nordheim (F–N) plots showed a linear behaviour. A current density of 0.1 A/cm2 has been obtained for 1.2 V/μm electric field. The field emission current–time (I–t), curves were recorded at a current level of 500 nA for 3 h. The field emission behaviour is compared with that of crystalline GaN as reported in literature.