Localized Nanodiamond Crystallization and Field Emission Performance Improvement of Amorphous Carbon upon Laser Irradiation in Liquid

The phase transformation from amorphous carbon to nanodiamond has been achieved by pulsed-laser irradiation of amorphous carbon films in a confined liquid at room temperature and ambient pressure. Nanocrystalline diamonds (NCDs) with size of about 4-7 tun were generated in the surface layer of amorphous carbon films by the amorphous carbon-to-diamond transition. It was found that the embedded NCDs microstructure array considerably improve the field emission performance of the treated amorphous carbon films. The physical and chemical mechanisms of the amorphous carbon-to-diamond transition induced by laser irradiation in liquid and the enhanced field emission caused by NCDs embedded in amorphous carbon films were pursued.