Effect of Surface Hydrogen Coverage on Field Emission Properties of Diamond Films Investigated by High-Resolution Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy

The influence of surface hydrogen coverage on the electron field emission of diamond films was investigated by high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy. It was found that hydrogen plasma treatment increased the surface hydrogen coverage while annealing caused hydrogen desorption and induced surface reconstruction. Field electron emission measurements manifested that increase of surface hydrogen coverage could improve the field emission properties, due to the decrease of electron affinity of the diamond surface by hydrogen adsorption.