Enhancement of electron emission efficiency and stability of Molybdenum-tip field emitter array by diamond like carbon coating

Abstract

The effect of Diamond Like Carbon (DLC) films, coated by a layer-by-layer technique using PECVD (plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition) on the electron emission characteristics of Molybdenum (Mo)-tip field emitter array (FEA) is examined, The turn-on voltage was lowered from 80 V for the Mo-tip to 65 V for the DLC-coated Mo-tip FEA while the maximum emission current was increased from 140 mu A for the Mo-tip to 320 mu A for the DLC-coated Mo-tip FEA composed of 900 emitters, For an anode current of 0.1 (mu A/emitter) the gate voltage for the DLC-coated Mo-tip FEA and Mo-tip FEA was about 87 and 107 V, respectively, It was also confirmed that the emission current of a DLC-coated Mo-tip FEA was more stable than that of a Mo-tip FEA.