Abstract

We report on the fabrication and the emission characterization of single ring-shaped Si ridges with a coating of diamond-like carbon (DLC). The reactive ion etching and the subsequent inductively coupled plasma step were adjusted to realize ring-shaped Si ridges with a height of 7.5 μm respectively 15 μm and an apex radius of 20 – 25 nm. The samples were coated with a DLC layer (thickness ≈ 2 – 5 nm) by a filtered cathodic vacuum arc deposition system in order to lower the work function of the emitter and to improve the field emission characteristics. The field emission characterizations were done in diode configuration with cathode and anode separated by a 50 μm thick mica spacer. A higher emission current was carried out for the ring-shaped Si ridge in comparison to the point-shaped Si tips due to the increased emission area. The highest emission current of 0.22 μA at 1000 V was measured on a DLC-coated sample with the highest aspect ratio. No degradation of the emission current was observed in the plateau regime during a measurement period of 6 h. Finally, no decreasing performance of the field emission properties was found due to changes in the geometry or destructions.

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