Measurement of field emission from nitrogen-doped diamond films

Abstract This study explores issues related to the measurement of the field emission properties of nitrogen-doped diamond grown by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Growth conditions have been optimized to produce films with a low concentration of sp 2 -bonded carbon which results in high electrical resistance. Field emission characteristics were measured in an ultrahigh vacuum with a variable distance anode technique. For samples grown with gas phase [N]/[C] ratios less than 10, damage from micro-arcs occurred during the field emission measurements. Samples grown at higher [N]/[C] content could be measured prior to an arcing event. The occurrence of a micro-arc is related to the film properties. The measurements indicate relatively high threshold fields (>100 V μm −1 ) for electron emission.