Low-voltage field emission from carbon films produced by magnetron sputtering

Emission properties of carbon films deposited on silicon substrates by magnetron sputtering have been studied. The structure of the films was varied by changing the substrate temperature. It was found that the best emission properties are obtained for a coating constituted by graphitized islands with transverse dimensions of 30–40 nm and a thickness of 3–4 nm. This result is in good agreement with the data previously obtained for films formed by chemical vapor deposition. This suggests that it is the structure of a carbon coating that determines its emission properties. A model of the emission mechanism for films of the type under study is discussed.