Electron field emission from nanostructured cubic boron nitride islands

Nanocrystal-assembled cubic boron nitride (cBN) islands are formed by using low-energy (similar to 20 eV) ion irradiation in an inductively coupled fluorine-containing plasma. The temporal evolution of surface morphology and roughness reveals three-dimensional island growth for initial sp(2)-bonded BN and subsequent cBN, accompanied by a high frequency of renucleation. The formation of cBN islands enhances the field emission and reduces the turn-on field down to around 9 V/mu m due to an increase in the island-related field. The results demonstrate the high potential of cBN for field emitters, comparable to other wide band gap semiconductors. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.