I-V characterization on diamond deposits by secondary electron microscopy

Diamond based cold cathodes have proven their feasibility for vacuum microelectronics devices. Although there have been numerous attempts to understand the emission mechanism (or mechanisms) these have not yet proved conclusive. In this research in-situ I-V characterization was conducted on a small region of interest on diamond coated surfaces inside a scanning electron microscope. Diamond powder, CVD-diamond, and amorphous diamond were deposited on to pointed field emitters and flat substrates. In addition, the effects of diamond geometry were compared before and after ion etching on the same sample.