The synthesis and characterization of carbon nanostructures on silicon carbide via vacuum decomposition technique for electron field emission applications

Carbon nanostructures (such as graphene and CNTs), especially when vertically aligned, hold significant potential for electron field emission cathode applications. The vacuum decomposition technique offers advantages in producing these structures, including sourcing carbon directly from carbide lattice, eliminating the need for reactive gases (e.g., CH4) or catalysts, and forming strong interfaces with substrates due to decomposition instead of deposition. However, reproducing these results has been limited to a few research groups due to factors such as precise process conditions, the properties of carbide-based substrates, atmospheric effects during the process, variations in experimental setups, and differences in material analysis techniques. This study focuses on the synthesis and characterization of carbon nanostructures on silicon carbide (SiC) substrates using the vacuum decomposition method. It aims to systematically investigate the effects of process parameters (such as temperature, duration, carbide surface) through cross-validation of known literature findings and to explore the previously unexamined impacts of process atmospheres (vacuum, CH4, N2, CO2) on the resulting structures. Additionally, the potential of these structures in electron field emission applications will be evaluated using selected samples.