Conduction mechanisms and voltage drop during field electron emission from diamond needles

Olivier Torresin (1) , Mario Borz (2) , Julien Mauchain (1) , Ivan Blum (2) , Victor Kleshch (3) , Alexander Obraztsov (3, 4) , Angela Vella (2) , Benoît Chalopin (1)

1 Femto (LCAR)
2 GPM - Groupe de physique des matériaux
3 MSU - Lomonosov Moscow State University
4 University of Eastern Finland

We report results of experimental investigation of field electron emission from diamond nanoemitters. The measurements were performed with single crystal diamond needles fixed at tungsten tips. The voltage drop along diamond needles during emission was revealed and measured using electron energy spectroscopy. The observed linear dependence of the voltage drop in diamond on voltage applied to the tungsten tip is explained in the frame of a simple macroscopic electrical model combining Poole–Frenkel conduction along the diamond tip and Fowler–Nordheim tunneling at the diamond-vacuum junction. Experimental evidences of electron emission sensitivity to laser illumination are discussed for possible modification of diamond emitter characteristics and voltage drop.

Domains: Physics [physics]; Condensed Matter [cond-mat]; Physics [physics]; Condensed Matter [cond-mat]; Materials Science [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]

Olivier Torresin, Mario Borz, Julien Mauchain, Ivan Blum, Victor Kleshch, et al.. Conduction mechanisms and voltage drop during field electron emission from diamond needles. Ultramicroscopy, 2019, 202, pp.51-56. ⟨10.1016/j.ultramic.2019.03.006⟩. ⟨hal-02109685⟩