Chemical vapor deposited diamonds on Re substrate for the application of field emission

► Boron-doped diamond films are grown on rhenium substrates by hot filament chemical vapor deposition technique. ► A mixture of sulfur acid and nitric acid enhanced diamond nucleation much more greatly. ► The resistivity of doped diamond films reaches 10− 2 Ω cm. ► Boron-doped diamond films grown on rhenium substrate had the low threshold field (3.3 v/μm).