Field emission study of diamond-like carbon films with scanned-probe field-emission force microscopy

Using a tip as an anode, a scanning force microscope (SFM) with an electrically conducting tip allows simultaneous measurement of both field-emitted currents and surface electronic properties with high lateral resolution. The principle of the method and its application to field emission from chemical vapor deposition diamond-like carbon films are presented. By simultaneously imaging the topography and field-emission current distribution with a 100 nm tip-surface separation, we correlated emission, topography, and dielectric properties. Subsequent contact SFM images of the same regions correlated topography and conductivity on the nanometer scale. The electrostatic force between tip and surface showed fluctuations on a millisecond time scale during field emission. This is probably due to charging and discharging of deep traps in the diamond-like carbon film. (c) 2000 American Institute of Physics