Preferentially Grown Ultranano c-Diamond and n-Diamond Grains on Silicon Nanoneedles from Energetic Species with Enhanced Field-Emission Properties

The design and fabrication of well-defined nanostructures have great importance in nanoelectronics. Here we report the precise growth of sub-2 nm (c-diamond) and above 5 nm (n-diamond) size diamond grains from energetic species (chemical vapor deposition process) at low growth temperature of about 460 °C. We demonstrate that a pre-nucleation induced interface can be accounted for the growth of c-diamond or n-diamond grains on Si-nanoneedles (Si-NN). These preferentially grown allotropic forms of diamond on Si-NN have shown high electron field-emission properties and signify their high potential towards diamond-based electronic applications.