Enhancement of electron emission from silicon tips by nitrogen doped amorphous carbon coating

To enhance the emission current of silicon field emitter, it has been coated with nitrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:N) by helical resonator plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The a-C:N film is amorphous and hydrogenated with about 30 at% hydrogen. Nitrogen is also included in the amorphous network. Nitrogen in the films reduces the optical band gap resulting in more efficient electron transport. The I-V characteristics show good F-N behavior for silicon and a-C:N coated emitters. a-C:N coating enhances significantly the emission current of silicon tips.