Abstract
Hydrogenated amorphous thin silicon films (a-Si:H) deposited using Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) on metal coated glass substrates were investigated to determine the effect of Aluminium Induced Crystallization (AIC) on their Electron Field Emission (FE) properties. Pre and post-surface characterization of the processed AIC-PECVD thin silicon films showed increased surface roughness and the presence of uniformly spaced "islandlike" micro/nano crystallites on the surface of both chromium (Cr) and molybdenum (Mo) backplane samples. Best FE results were obtained from a-Si: H sputtered with a thin layer of aluminum (Al) on top and isothermally annealed at 350 degrees C. FE currents were measured upto above 10(-6) A at emission thresholds of 35 - 60 V/mu m. FE results of the AIC-PECVD thin silicon films were found to be particularly dependent on backplane material and independent of the annealing temperature. Diode configuration field emission measurements have been conducted using an ANODE plate coated with indium tin-oxide (ITO) and phosphor to observe the light emission.