Photostimulation of conductivity and electronic properties of field-emission nanocarbon coatings on silicon

The electronic structure of island carbon films on silicon, which are capable of low-voltage field electron emission (at the mean electric-field strength above several hundreds of V/mm), have been investigated. It has been shown by tunnel spectroscopy that islands of these coatings are characterized by a continuous spectrum of the allowed delocalized states near the Fermi level, i.e., they contain carbon in the $sp^2$ state. The photoconductivity of the coatings under study has been observed. Based on the current and spectral characteristics of this phenomenon, it has been shown that islands are separated from each other by tunnel barriers and from the substrate by a Schottky barrier.