Field emission stability and properties of simultaneously grown microcrystalline diamond and carbon nanostructure films

The temporal stability and electron field emission characteristics of simultaneously grown microcrystalline diamond and carbon nanostructures were investigated. The films were prepared by hot filament chemical vapor deposition using typical diamond deposition parameters, and iron oxide nanoparticles on the molybdenum substrate were employed as catalyst for their induction. The hybrid system presented better emission characteristics compared with microcrystalline diamond with turn-on fields as low as 2.45 V/μm (at 1 μA/cm²), and a current density of up to 0.24 mA/cm² was achieved. The films showed relatively stable emission behavior for a period of 24 h.