Electron field emission from nano-crystalline Si films deposited by inductively coupled plasma CVD at room temperature

Silicon thin films were deposited by inductively coupled plasma CVD at room temperature. Raman spectrum and atomic force microscopy were used to characterize the structure and topography of the samples. It was shown that, under the optimum plasma conditions, nano-crystalline Si film was grown with high-density Si tips in a random distribution on surface. The height and the mean basal diameter of the Si tips were 30–40 nm and ～200 nm, respectively. The film with such a surface topography was demonstrated to have good behavior of electron field emission. The typical threshold field is about 7–10 V/μm.