Carbon nanofibres from diamond film using Ar-ion bombardment and their field emission property

Carbon nanofibres (CNFs) have been fabricated by oblique ion sputtering diamond films at room temperature. Scanning electron microscopy shows that the ordered carbon protrusions with a size of ~1 mum are formed after 1 h ion irradiation and CNFs on the protrusions with a density of 1-2times10⁸/cm², diameter of ~40 nm and length of 1-4 mum are achieved after 2 h ion sputtering. Raman spectra indicates that the amorphous or defect content increases with the duration of irradiation. The investigation of field emission shows that the turn-on field is 1.8 V/mum and the threshold field is 4.6 V/mum.