Ab initio dynamics of field emission from diamond surfaces

We propose a new interpretation of the efficiency of field emission, which is understood based on the concept of electron affinity. We use time-dependent density functional theory to simulate field emission from clean and chemically modified diamond (001) surfaces under applied electric fields. We find that the emission efficiency is governed by the self-consistent electrostatic potential (V-SCF) at the surface rather than by the sign of the electron affinity, which is determined by V-SCF in the vacuum region far from the surface. We resolve the paradox that the emission efficiency of a clean (001) surface with positive electron affinity is even higher than that of a H/OH-co-terminated (001) surface with negative electron affinity. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.