Low energy cluster beam deposited BN films as the cascade for field emission

The atomic deposited BN films with the thickness of nanometers (ABN) were prepared by radio frequency magnetron sputtering method and the nanostructured BN films (CBN) were prepared by Low Energy Cluster Beam Deposition. UV-Vis Absorption measurement proves the band gap of 4.27 eV and field emission of the BN films were carried out. F-N plots of all the samples give a good fitting and demonstrate the F-N tunneling of the emission process. The emission of ABN begins at the electric field of 14.6 V/μm while that of CBN starts at 5.10 V/μm. Emission current density of 1 mA/cm² for ABN needs the field of 20 V/μm while that of CBN needs only 12.1 V/μm. The cluster-deposited BN on n-type Silicon substrate proves a good performance in terms of the lower gauge voltage, more emission sites and higher electron intensity and seems a promising substitute for the cascade of field emission.