Electron field emission from diamond-like carbon films deposited by electrolysis of methanol liquid

Abstract

Electron field emission has been studied with diamond-like carbon (DLC) films deposited from a liquid phase. The DLC films were deposited on Si substrate by electrolysis of methanol liquid. The field emission measurements were carried out with a parallel plate configuration using the deposited DLC films on Si substrate as a cathode, and an indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass plate as an anode. We found several bright spots on a luminescent screen mounted on the ITO anode, indicating that the electrons are emitted from the isolated emission sites on the deposited DLC film. The emission current density is more than 10−7 A/cm2 at the electric field as low as 1.2 V/μm. This result suggests that the DLC film deposited from the liquid phase has a potential advantage for field emitter applications.