Investigation of the Field Emission Current from Polycrystalline Diamond Films

The field emission current from boron doped polycrystalline diamond films was characterized as a function of voltage and temperature. The motivation for the current-temperature measurements was to assess the thermal stability of the diamond emitters and gain some insight into a possible emission mechanism. Results from the current-temperature (I-T) measurements found that the field emission current appeared independent of temperature. The best characterization of the results implied a temperature independent electron tunneling mechanism if not electron emission from the valence band of diamond.