Field emission from an ion irradiated photoresist

The held emission from Ar ion irradiated photoresist material is demonstrated. A photoresist of novolac-type positive-tone is used as the test material. The electrical resistivity of the photoresist film is found to decrease after Ar ion implantation at doses on the order of 10(16) cm(-2). Raman spectroscopy shows that carbon-carbon bonds such as the graphite bond are produced due to ion bombardment. For the field emission, a pyramid-like structure is prepared using oxygen-plasma etching and Ar ions are implanted to the pyramid-like structured photoresist. Electron emission of the order of 10(-6) A is observed for implanted samples, while no emission is detected from unimplanted samples.