Enhancing electron field emission properties of UNCD films through nitrogen incorporation at high substrate temperature

The electron field emission (EFE) and electrochemical (EC) properties of N2(10%)-incorporated ultra-nanocrystalline diamond (N2-UNCD) films were investigated. Microstructure examination using TEM indicates that incorporating the N2 species without the substrate heating induced the presence of stacking faults, which can be effectively suppressed by growing the films at elevated temperature. While the synthesis of N2-UNCD without substrate heating can efficiently enhance the EC properties (large potential window with smaller background current) of the films, the EFE behavior of the films can be improved only when the films were grown at an elevated temperature. Moreover, coating the conducting N2-UNCD on Si-tips can further enhance the EFE and CV behaviors, viz. (E0)tip = 5.0 V/μm with (Je)tip = 0.28 mA/cm2 at 15 V/μm applied field and ΔEp = 0.5 V with redox peak 170 μA were achieved.

Research Highlights
► Incorporating N2 species without substrate heating induced the presence of stacking faults, which enhance the electron field emission (EFE) and electrochemical (EC) properties.
► EFE behavior of the films can be improved only when the films are grown at an elevated temperature.
► Coating the conduction N2-UNCD on Si-tips further enhances the EFE and EC properties.