Even though surface treatment has proven useful for both metal and diamond field emitters, there is at this time no study of its effects on AlN emitters. In this study, a 7 nanometer film of AlN deposited on molybdenum emitter tip was treated with different gas plasmas (H2, O2, N2). All surface treatments and measurements were carried out by using an in-situ technique inside the magnetron sputtering chamber. Changes in the measured I-V curves were not observed for the emitter treated with either hydrogen or nitrogen plasmas, but were observed for the oxygen plasma treatment and after the deposition of a very thin (<10A) aluminum film. The aluminum film deposition was very effective at enhancing emission from a Mo tip coated with AlN. This may be explained by lowering of the surface barrier due to the electronegativity difference at the surface.

Keywords: AlN, Field emission, Surface treatment