Investigation of carbon nano-particles converted from a polymer by UV pulsed laser irradiation

Diamond-like polymer, poly(phenylcarbyne), films were irradiated by pulsed UV laser (λ = 248 nm) at an atmospheric pressure of nitrogen. The morphologies of the resulting samples were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The structures of the resulting films were investigated by Raman spectra and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The electron field emission properties of the films were investigated The results indicate that the polymer is converted into nano-particle carbon films by pulsed laser irradiation. The converted carbon film shows good field emission properties, such as low turn-on threshold emission field, high emission current density and high emission light spot density. Field emission images from the converted carbon films have been demonstrated. The mechanisms of both carbon cluster conversion from the polymer and field emission of the converted carbon film have been discussed.