Electrical conditioning of diamond-like carbon films for the formation of coated field emission cathodes

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films deposited on different substrates by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition were investigated. Bonding states and film quality were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy. The influence of the power of plasma and the deposition time on the sp2/sp3 ratio as well as the concentration of CHn bonds was studied. The influence of sp2/sp3 ratio on the formation process of conducting channels in diamond-like carbon films as a result of electrical breakdown was determined. Reproducible increase of diamond-like carbon film conductivity, with initial sp2/sp3 ratio larger than 0.16, was observed after electrical breakdown.