2004 journal article
Electronic properties of diamond clusters: self-consistent tight binding simulation
DIAMOND AND RELATED MATERIALS, 13(10), 1826β1833.
A self-consistent environment-dependent tight binding method is used to examine electron emission-related properties of hydrogen passivated nano-diamond (ND) particles. For sizes larger than 2.5 nm particle bandgap was found to be equal to the bandgap of bulk diamond. Coulomb potential distributions and electron affinities of clusters were found to be insensitive to the particle size if it exceeds 1.0 nm. Tunneling probabilities for homogeneous and inhomogeneous emission models were estimated. The simulation results indicate that the low emission threshold for hydrogen passivated diamond nano-clusters is due to hydrogen-assisted emission from the edges of small unpassivated islands. Essentially the same mechanism is claimed to be responsible for good emission properties of hydrogen passivated diamond films by Ristein [Diam. Relat. Mater. 9, 1129 (2000)].