Enhancement of field emission from cathodes with superthin diamond-like carbon films

In this work, the fact of rather stable enhanced field emission from Si-tip covered by diamond-like carbon (DLC) films is demonstrated. Effect of different types of coatings and surface treatments (electrochemical etching, H+-implantation, Cs-enriched layers and DLC films) on the electron field emission (FE) from silicon tips have been examined. The emission characteristics of FE such as the emission area of tip α, factor of electric field enhancement β, coefficient of quality of field emitter γ, work function, etc. have been calculated. The most remarkable enhancement of FE have been observed for Si-cathodes covered by DLC films. The mechanism of the effect observed is discussed.