Influence of the microwave plasma deposition regime on the field-electron emission characteristics of nanodiamond-graphite composite films

It is established that the field-electron emission characteristics of nanodiamond-graphite composite films deposited in nonequilibrium microwave plasma of low-pressure ethanol vapor depend on the deposition regime. The effect is explained in terms of the cluster model of deposited hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) structure. By selecting a deposition regime so as to reduce the content of bound hydrogen in deposited carbon structures, it is possible to provide for a four- to sixfold decrease in the threshold field of field-electron emission as compared to that in a-C:H films obtained by other methods.