Field-emission properties of sulphur doped nanocrystalline diamonds

Abstract

Nanostructured diamond doped with sulphur has been prepared using a hot-filament assisted chemical vapour deposition system fed with an ethyl alcohol, carbon disulfide, hydrogen, and argon mixture. The reduction of diamond grains to the nanoscale is relevant to create a network of defective grain boundaries which may be n-type doped to facilitate the transport and injection of electrons to the diamond grains located at the vacuum interface, enhancing the electron field-emission properties of the samples. The downsizing was produced by secondary nucleation and defects induced by sulphur and argon atoms in the chemical vapour deposition surface reactions. Sulphur also acts as an n-type dopant of diamond. Raman measurements show that the samples are nanodiamonds embedded in a matrix of graphite and disordered carbon grains and the morphology, revealed by field electron scanning microscopy, shows that the grains are in the range of 10 to 30 nm. The lowest threshold achieved for field emission was 13.20 V/μm. © 2007 IOP Publishing Ltd.