Self-organized carbon nanotips

We have developed a carbon nanostructure, which is comprised of high-density carbon nanotips on a graphite layer. These carbon nanotips, with tip diameters of similar to 10 nm, are grown by high-density plasma chemical vapor deposition onto Ni-coated Si using an inductively coupled plasma. The Ni on Si changes into NiSi2 by substrate heating. First, a carbon buffer layer and then a graphene sheet are formed on the NiSi2. Then, the carbon nanotips are grown by a C2H2/H-2 plasma on the graphene sheet. The carbon nanotips show good adhesion to the substrate and are almost aligned, with an average length of 110 nm. They exhibit a turn-on field of 0.1 V/mum, a field amplification factor of similar to 13 000, a current density of 2 mA/cm(2) at a field of 2 V/mum, and uniform electron emission. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.