Enhancing electrical conductivity and electron field emission property of free standing diamond films by employing embedded Ag nanoparticles

• DOI: 10.1016/j.matlet.2014.10.119
• Publication Date: 2014-10-31T02:02:40Z
• Authors: Yanyan Shen; Yu Qiao; Zhiyong He; Shengwang Yu
• Keywords: Electron Mobility

Abstract Ag nanoparticles (NPs) were introduced into free-standing diamond (FSD) film by ion implantation to improve its electrical conductivity and electron field emission (EFE) property. Ag-implanted FSD film exhibits improved conductivity with the carrier mobility of 16.2 cm 2 V −1 s −1 , owing to the conductive paths provided by Ag NPs. The EFE behavior of Ag -implanted FSD film can be turned on at E 0 =18 V/μm, attaining a current density of 89.6 μA/cm 2 at an applied field of 30 V/μm. The origin of improving the EFE was discussed based on F-N equation. The present study shows the interest of using embedded conductive NPs to improve the EFE of diamond.