Nanodiamod lateral device field emission diode fabricated by electron beam lithography

Nitrogen incorporated nanodiamond film is known to aid in promoting enhanced electron emission via the induced graphitic behavior both in the bulk material and also the surface of the film. Since electron emission current is inversely proportional to the cathode to anode inter-electrode distance; it is necessary to implement electron beam lithography (EBL) to obtain a small emission gap. To achieve high resolution from EBL, a thinner nanodiamond film is required. In this work, we fabricated lateral field emitters on a 0.65 µm nanodiamond film. The nanodiamond film was deposited onto a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate in CH4/H2/N2 plasma ambient by microwave chemical vapor deposition. The SOI was prepared for diamond nucleation using mechanical abrasion and ultrasonication in nanodiamond powder. Electron beam lithography (EBL) was used to delineate a 10 emitter tipped diode with a 2 µm anode-to- anode emission gap.