High performance field emission cathode based on the diamond nanowires prepared by nanocrystalline diamond films annealed in air

Abstract This paper reports the field emission (FE) characteristics of a diamond nanowires (DNWs) array. The nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) film was deposited on silicon by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) and then annealed in air forming DNWs and hydrogenated at last. A high-field flat-plate emission test structure with a 1.03 μ m gap between anode and cathode was prepared and the electrical properties proved it feasible. The FE performance of DNWs array was measured in a vacuum test system and that of NCDs film as a comparison. Finally, their FE parameters were analyzed and extracted based on the Fowler–Nordheim (F-N) theory. The results show that transforming NCDs film into DNWs array can improve the FE characteristics greatly. The turn-on field is as low as 1.36 V μ m −1 dropping by one order of magnitude, while the field enhancement factor and FE current density are up to 156.68 and 484.75 mA cm −2 respectively rising both by two orders of magnitude. This excellent FE performance stems from the characteristics of large aspect ratio, very small tip radius and high density of DNWs.