Annealing effect on the electron field emission characteristics of pulsed laser deposited diamond-like carbon films an 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 sp(3)-bonds content of the DLC films. Larger proportion of sp(3)-bonds resulted in higher emission current density (J(e)). Post-annealing process lowers the proportion of sp(3)-bonds. The optimum electron field emission behavior obtained is emission current density (J(e))(DLC) = 480 mu A/cm(2), turn-on field (E-0)(DLC) = 8 V/mu m and effective work function (phi(e))(DLC) = 0.0546 eV. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.