%0 Journal Article
%T Extremely high negative electron affinity of diamond via magnesium adsorption
%A Kane M. O'Donnell
%A Mark T. Edmonds
%A Anton Tadich
%A Lars Thomsen
%A Alastair Stacey
%A Alex Schenk
%A Chris I. Pakes
%A Lothar Ley
%J Physics
%D 2015
%I arXiv
%X We report large negative electron affinity (NEA) on diamond (100) using magnesium adsorption on a previously oxygen-terminated surface. The measured NEA is up to $(-2.01\pm0.05)$ eV, the largest reported negative electron affinity to date. Despite the expected close relationship between the surface chemistry of Mg and Li species on oxygen-terminated diamond, we observe differences in the adsorption properties between the two. Most importantly, a high-temperature annealing step is not required to activate the Mg-adsorbed surface to a state of negative electron affinity. Diamond surfaces prepared by this procedure continue to possess negative electron affinity after exposure to high temperatures, air and even immersion in water.
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/1505.06410v2