Fabrication of transition metal nitride field emitters

Abstract

The NbN field emitter which is fabricated by nitriding a raw Nb needle produced a relatively stable field emission current. The field emission properties changed with the flashing temperature. The relationships between surface chemical composition and field emission properties were examined. It is revealed that the field emission properties are largely affected by the surface nitrogen concentration, and the existence of nitrogen on the surface results in relatively stable field emission current.