Cold field emission from CVD diamond films observed in emission electron microscopy

Abstract

Thick (100 μm) chemical vapour deposited (CVD) polycrystalline diamond films have been observed to emit electrons with an intensity sufficient to form an image in the accelerating field of an emission microscope without external excitation (> 3 MV/m). The individual crystallites are of the order of 1–10 μm. The combined crystallite diameter and the electric field strength in these ‘self-emitting’ films are far below those typical for cold field emitters.