Field Emission Property of Al:ZnO Whiskers Modified by Amorphous Carbon and Related Films

A new type of ceramic field emitter was designed using the chemical vapor deposition process. There are two major features of the materials used to construct the emitter: an electrically conductive Al:ZnO whisker with an extremely sharp tip and amorphous carbon and related coating materials with a relatively low electron affinity at the tip region. Some aggregations of whiskers were synthesized as a function of the radius of curvature at the whisker tip. In addition, four types of amorphous coatings were provided for this experiment: C:H, CN x :H with C–H and N–H terminations, CN x :H with N–H termination and CN x films. The field emission property was influenced not only by the radius of curvature at the tip but also by the termination structure of the amorphous carbon and related films.