Field Emission from Silicon Nanocrystallite Films with Compact Alignment and Uniform Orientation

Patterned silicon nanocrystallite (SiNC) films were fabricated on (100) orientation p-type boron-doped silicon wafer by the hydrogen ion implantation technique and the anodic etching method. The efficient field emission with low turn-on field of about 3.5 V/μm at current density of 0.1 μA/cm² was obtained. The emission current density from the SiNC films reached 1 mA/cm² under a bias field of about 9.1 V/μm. The experimental results demonstrate that there are great potential applications of the SiNC films for flat panel displays. A surface treatment with hydrogen plasma was performed on the SiNC films and a significant improvement of emission properties was achieved.