All-carbon heterostructures self-assembly during field electron emission from diamond nanotip

Abstract

In this study we demonstrate formation of all-carbon heterostructures induced by field electron emission from diamond needle-shaped crystallites with nanoscale tips. We show that at certain experimental conditions a carbon nanoprotrusion can be formed at the apex of a diamond emitter. Staircase-like current-voltage curves observed for such emitters indicated the presence of the Coulomb blockade effect in the self-assembled all-carbon heterostructures. The mechanism of nanoprotrusion formation via the field-induced surface diffusion of carbon atoms is revealed by observing the structural transformation of the emitter material using transmission electron microscopy. We also explore how the properties of the formed heterostructures evolve with the field emission current, and show that the characteristic size of the formed nanoprotrusion depends on the dimensions of the diamond nanotip. The developed approach offers a way to reproducible fabrication of heterostructured emitters which can be applied as coherent single-electron sources in vacuum nanoelectronics and electron quantum optics.