Effect of different surface coverages of transition metals on the electronic and structural properties of diamond

The presence of adsorbate species on diamond surfaces, even in relatively small concentrations, strongly influences electrical, chemical and structural properties. Despite the technological significance, coverage of diamond by transition metals has received relatively little attention. In this paper, we present the results of density functional calculations examining up to a mono-layer of transition metals on the (001) diamond surface. We find that addition of carbide forming species, such as Ti, results in significantly higher adsorption energies at all surface coverages relative to non-carbide forming species. For monolayer coverage by Cu, and sub-monolayer coverage by Ti, we find a negative electron affinity. We propose that based upon the electron affinities and binding energies, metal-terminated (001) diamond surfaces are promising candidates for electron emission device applications.