Cold electron emission process in CVD diamond films

The development of robust cold cathodes would provide improved efficiency, lifetime, and design flexibility for a broad range of devices including RF vacuum electronic devices and flat panel displays. Diamond has been identified as a uniquely promising cold cathode material due to the negative electron affinity (NEA) that is present at hydrogenated diamond surfaces. In this study, we investigate the cold electron emission process in CVD diamond using electron transmission spectroscopy. Specifically, we inject electrons into thin CVD diamond films using a 0-20 keV electron gun, and we then detect and analyze the secondary electrons that are transmitted through the films. In particular, the intensity and energy distribution of the transmitted electrons are measured as a function of the incident beam parameters (E₀, I₀) and analyzed using Monte Carlo simulations. Reflected secondary-electron-emission spectroscopy (SEES) measurements are also used to evaluate the surface properties of the films.