Annealing effect on the electron field emission characteristics of pulsed laser deposited diamond-like carbon films on glass substrates

The electron field emission properties of the diamond-like carbon DLC.films prepared by the pulsed laser deposition process were observed to change significantly with the substrate temperature and the laser fluence. Raman spectroscopic analyses indicated that the substrate temperature and laser fluence pronouncedly modify the sp3-bonds content of the DLC films. Larger proportion of sp3-bonds resulted in higher emission current density Je.. Post-annealing process lowers the proportion of sp3-bonds. The optimum electron field emission behavior obtained is emission current density Je.DLCs480 mArcm2, turn-on field E0.DLCs8 Vrmm and effective work function fe.DLCs0.0546 eV. q1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.