Emission Enhancement by Surface Modification of Reticulated Vitreous Carbon (RVC)
under the supervision of Professor Hunt

Irradiation by means of laser and ion treatment has been shown to modify the surface of various forms of carbon.   Reticulated Vitreous Carbon (RVC) is of particular interest because it has been shown to require a lower field for the onset of field emission in comparison to graphite and provides a higher emission current density than diamond due to its greater number of available carriers.  In the current study, Argon ion radiation is being used to induce surface modifications of RVC to improve its field emissive properties. Samples are systematically irradiated under varying conditions of beam energy, plasma density and duration.  Modifications in the sp²- and sp³-bonds at the surface of the RVC as well as in the formation of geometrically attractive emission sources such as cones, whiskers and Carbon Nanotubes  (CNTs) have been shown to display a marked improvement in I-V characteristics of field emissive light sources tested.  Uniformity of emission is explored using a cathodoluminescent (CL) phosphor screen, materials characterization techniques such as SEM, vibrational spectroscopy, NMR and TEM will be used in determining and characterizing variations in surface features and bond structure of the material. 

 

Cathodoluminescence from untreated and treated RVC substrates, respectively.