利用前后处理技术改进钛／硅基板上的类金刚石场发射特性

采用微波等离子体化学气相沉积系统存钛/硅基板上沉积类金刚石薄膜,并利用拉曼光谱仪、扫瞄式电子显微镜及原子力显微镜研究了氢等离子体前处理及快速退火后处理对类金刚石薄膜场发射特性之影响.在沉积类金刚石薄膜之前,钛/硅基板使用了两种前处理技术:第一种为研磨金刚石粉末,第二种为研磨金刚石粉末后外加氢等离子体刻蚀处理.成长类金刚石薄膜后进行快速退火处理.发现不论是氢等离子体前处理还是快速退火后处理皆能改善场发射特性,其中经退火后处理的场发射特性比氢等离子体前处理的场发射特性改善更明显.其因之一在于快速退火后处理可在类金刚石薄膜表而形成sp2丛聚,提供了很多的场发射子,也同时增加了表面粗糙度;另一个原因可能是在快速退火后处理期间会使类金刚石薄膜进一步石墨化,因而提供了许多电子在通过类金刚石薄膜时的传输路径.研究结果表明:利用适当的前后处理技术可改进类金刚石薄膜的场发射特性,进而做为冷阴极材料之应用.

Effects of pretreatment and post-annealing on the field emission property of diamond-like carbon grown on a titanium/silicon substrate

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films were deposited on titanium/silicon substrates with the help of the micro-wave plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method with At, H2, and CH4 as a mixed gas source. Titanium/silicon substrates were polished by diamond powder and etched by hydrogen ( H2 ) plasma, prior to deposition. After deposi-tion, rapid thermal annealing (RTA) was used as a post-treatment. The effects of hydrogen plasma pretreatment and RTA post-treatment on the electron field emission characteristics of the DLC films was examined and correlated by Ra-man scattering, average surface roughness, and surface morphology. It is found that both treatments can improve the field emission characteristics of DLC films. However, RTA post-treatment demonstrates a more pronounced effect on the enhancement of field emission than does the hydrogen plasma pretreatment. This improvement is attributed in part to the increase in surface roughness resulting from sp2 clustering formed during the RTA. The tips of these sp2 clusters provide plenty of efficient emission sites on the surface of the DLC films. Another reason for this improvement is the graphene-like layers formed during the RTA, which provide efficient conduction paths for electrons to move through the DLC films. The field emission characteristics of CVD deposited on DLC films can be greatly enhanced by appropriate pretreat-ment and post-treatment, leading to promising applications for cold cathodes.