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In the present work, Au-Si eutectic layer was used to enhance the electrical conductivity/electron field emission (EFE) properties of Au-ion implanted ultrananocrystalline diamond (Au-UNCD) films grown on Si substrates. The electrical conductivity was improved to a value of 230 (Ω cm)-1, and the EFE properties was enhanced reporting a low turn-on field of 2.1 V/μm with high EFE current density of 5.3 mA/cm2 (at an applied field of 4.9 V/μm) for the Au-UNCD films. The formation of SiC phase circumvents the formation of amorphous carbon prior to the nucleation of diamond on Si substrates. Consequently, the electron transport efficiency of the UNCD-to-Si interface increases, thereby improving the conductivity as well as the EFE properties. Moreover, the salient feature of these processes is that the sputtering deposition of Au-coating for preparing the Au-Si interlayer, the microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process for growing the UNCD films, and the Au-ion implantation process for inducing the nanographitic phases are standard thin film preparation techniques, which are simple, robust, and easily scalable. The availability of these highly conducting UNCD films with superior EFE characteristics may open up a pathway for the development of high-definition flat panel displays and plasma devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electron field emission (EFE) properties of nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) films synthesized by the bias-enhanced growth (beg) process under different bias voltages were investigated. The induction of the nanographitic phases is presumed to be the prime factor in enhancing the EFE properties of negative biased NCD films. Transmission electron microscopic investigations reveal that a negative bias voltage of -300V increases the rate of growth for NCD films with the size of the grains changing from nano to ultranano size. This effect also is accompanied by the induction of nanographitic filaments in the grain boundaries of the films. The turn-on field (E0) for the EFE process then effectively gets reduced. The EFE process of the beg-NCD-300V films can be turned on at E0=3.86 V/μm, and the EFE current density achieved is 1.49 mA/cm2 at an applied field of 7.85 V/μm. On the other hand, though a positive-bias beg process (+200 V) results in the reduction of grain size, it does not induce sufficient nanographitic phases to lower the E0 value of the EFE process. Moreover, the optical emission spectroscopic investigation indicates that one of the primary causes that changes the granular structure of the NCD films is the increase in the proportion of C2 and CH species induced in the growing plasma. The polarity of the bias voltage is of less importance in the microstructural evolution of the films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of N2 concentration in CH4/H2/N2 plasma on microstructural evolution and electrical properties of diamond films is systematically investigated. While the diamond films grown in CH4/N2plasma contain large diamond grains, for the diamond films grown using CH4/H2/(4%)N2 plasma, the microstructure drastically changed, resulting in ultra-nanosized diamond grains with Fd3m structure and a0=0.356 nm, along with the formation of n-diamond (n-D), a metastable form of diamond with space group Fm3m and a0=0.356 nm, and i-carbon (i-C) clusters, the bcc structured carbon with a0=0.432 nm. In addition, these films contain wide grain boundaries containing amorphous carbon (a-C). The electron field emission (EFE) studies show the best EFE behavior for 4% N2 films among the CH4/H2/N2 grown diamond films. They possess the lowest turn-on field value of 14.3 V/μm and the highest EFE current density value of 0.37 mA/cm2 at an applied field of 25.4 V/μm. The optical emission spectroscopy studies confirm that CN species are the major criterion to judge the changes in the microstructure of the films. It seems that the grain boundaries can provide electron conduction networks to transport efficiently the electrons to emission sites for field emission, as long as they have sufficient thickness. Whether the matrix nano-sized grains are 3C-diamond, n-D or i-C is immaterial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microstructural evolution of bias-enhanced grown (BEG) ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) films has been investigated using microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition in gas mixtures of CH4 and Ar under different negative bias voltages ranging from -50 to -200 V. Scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy were used to characterize the morphology, growth rate, and chemical bonding of the synthesized films. Transmission electron microscopic investigation reveals that the application of bias voltage induced the formation of the nanographitic filaments in the grain boundaries of the films, in addition to the reduction of the size of diamond grains to ultra-nanosized granular structured grains. For BEG-UNCD films under -200 V, the electron field emission (EFE) process can be turned on at a field as small as 4.08 V/μm, attaining a EFE current density as large as 3.19 mA/cm2 at an applied field of 8.64 V/μm. But the films grown without bias (0 V) have mostly amorphous carbon phases in the grain boundaries, possessing poorer EFE than those of the films grown using bias. Consequently, the induction of nanographitic filaments in grain boundaries of UNCD films grown in CH4/Ar plasma due to large applied bias voltage of -200V is the prime factor, which possibly forms interconnected paths for facilitating the transport of electrons that markedly enhance the EFE properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microstructural evolution of ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) films as a function of substrate temperature (TS) and/or by introducing H2 in Ar/CH4 plasma is investigated. Variation of the sp2 and sp3 carbon content is analyzed using UV-Raman and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectra. Morphological and microstructural studies confirm that films deposited using Ar/CH4 plasma at low TS consist of a random distribution of spherically shaped ultra-nano diamond grains with distinct sp2-bonded grain boundaries, which are attributed to the adherence of CH radicals to the nano-sized diamond clusters. By increasing TS, adhering efficiency of CH radicals to the diamond lattice drops and trans-polyacetylene (t-PA) encapsulating the nano-sized diamond grains break, whereas the addition of 1.5% H2 in Ar/CH4 plasma at low TS induces atomic hydrogen that preferentially etches out the t-PA attached to ultra-nano diamond grains. Both cases make the sp3-diamond phase less passivated. This leads to C2 radicals attaching to the diamond lattice promoting elongated clustered grains along with a complicated defect structure. Such a grain growth model is highly correlated to explain the technologically important functional property, namely, plasma illumination (PI) of UNCD films. Superior PI properties, viz. low threshold field of 0.21 V/μm with a high PI current density of 4.10 mA/cm2 (at an applied field of 0.25 V/μm) and high γ-coefficient (0.2604) are observed for the UNCD films possessing ultra-nano grains with a large fraction of grain boundary phases. The grain boundary component consists of a large amount of sp2-carbon phases that possibly form interconnected paths for facilitating the transport of electrons and the electron field emission process that markedly enhance PI properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The single or multienergy nitrogen (N) ion implantation (MENII) processes with a dose (4×1014 ions/cm2) just below the critical dose (1×1015 ions/cm2) for the structural transformation of ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) films were observed to significantly improve the electron field emission (EFE) properties. The single energy N ion implantation at 300 °C has shown better field emission properties with turn-on field (E0) of 7.1 V/μm, as compared to room temperature implanted sample at similar conditions (E0=8.0 V/μm) or the pristine UNCD film (E0=13.9 V/μm). On the other hand, the MENII with a specific sequence of implantation pronouncedly showed different effect on altering the EFE properties for UNCD films, and the implantation at 300 °C further enhanced the EFE behavior. The best EFE characteristics achieved for the UNCD film treated with the implantation process are E0=4.5 V/μm and current density of (Je)=2.0 mA/cm2 (at 24.5 V/μm). The prime factors for improving the EFE properties are presumed to be the grain boundary incorporation and activation of the implanted N and the healing of induced defects, which are explained based on surface charge transfer doping mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of pretreatment bias on the nucleation and growth mechanisms of the ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) films on the Si substrate via bias-enhanced nucleation and bias-enhanced growth (BEN-BEG) was investigated using cross-sectional high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, chemical bonding mapping, and Raman spectroscopy. The mirror-polished substrate surface showed the formation of a triangular profile produced by a dominant physical sputtering mechanism induced by ion bombardment of ions from the hydrogen plasma accelerated toward the substrate due to biasing and a potential hydrogen-induced chemical reaction component before synthesizing the UNCD films. The BEN-BEG UNCD films grown on the Si substrate with biased and unbiased pretreatments in the hydrogen plasma were compared. In the case of the bias-pretreated substrate, the SiC phases were formed at the peaks of the Si surface triangular profile due to the active unsaturated Si bond and the enhanced local electrical field. The UNCD grains grew preferentially at the peaks of the triangular substrate surface profile and rapidly covered the amorphous carbon (a-C) and oriented graphite phases formed in the valley of the surface profile. In the case of the substrate with unbiased pretreatment, the SiC phases were formed via the reactions between the hydrocarbon species and the active Si atoms released from the substrate with assistance of the hydrogen plasma. The UNCD grains nucleated on the nucleating sites consisting of the SiC, a-C, and graphite phases. Growth mechanisms for the BEN-BEG UNCD films on both Si substrates were proposed to elucidate the different nucleation processes. Applying bias on the Si substrate pretreated in the hydrogen plasma optimized the nucleation sites for growth of UNCD grains, resulting in the low content of the nondiamond phases in UNCD films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhanced electron field emission (EFE) properties for ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) films grown on silicon substrate were achieved, especially due to the high dose N ion implantation. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements indicated that the N ion implantation first expelled H-, induced the formation of disordered carbon (or defect complex), and then induced the amorphous phase, as the ion implantation dose increased. The postimplantation annealing process healed the atomic defects, but converted the disordered carbon to a stable defect complex, and amorphous carbon into a more stable graphitic phase. The EFE characteristics of the high dose (>1015 ions/cm2) ion-implanted UNCD were maintained at an enhanced level, whereas those of the low dose (<1014 ions/cm2) ion-implanted ones were reverted to the original values after the annealing process. Ion implantation over a critical dose (1×1015 ions/cm2) was required to improve the EFE properties of UNCD films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter describes the fast growth of ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) films by biasenhanced nucleation and growth process in CH4/Ar plasma. The UNCD grains were formed at the beginning of the film's growth without the necessity of forming the amorphous carbon interlayer, reaching a thickness of ~380 nm in 10 min. Transmission electron microscopic investigations revealed that the application of bias voltage induced the formation of graphitic phase both in the interior and at the interface regions of UNCD films that formed interconnected paths, facilitating the transport of electrons and resulting in enhanced electron field emission properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]