Enhanced field emission characteristics of thin-Au-coated nano-sheet carbon films

This paper reports that the nano-sheet carbon films (NSCFs) were fabricated on Si wafer chips with hydrogen--methane gas mixture by means of quartz-tube-type microwave plasma chemical vapour deposition (MWPCVD). In order to further improve the field emission (FE) characteristics, a 5-nm Au film was prepared on the samples by using electron beam evaporation. The FE properties were obviously improved due to depositing Au thin film on NSCFs. The FE current density at a macroscopic electric field, E, of 9 V/μm was increased from 12.4 mA/cm² to 27.2 mA/cm² and the threshold field was decreased from 2.6 V/μm to 2.0 V/μm for Au-coated carbon films. A modified F-N model considering statistic effects of FE tip structures in the low E region and a space-charge-limited-current effect in the high E region were applied successfully to explain the FE data of the Au-coated NSCF.