This paper reports the enhanced stability of a microplasma device by using hybrid-granular-structured diamond (HiD) film coated carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as cathode, which overcomes the drawback of short life time in the CNTs-based one. The microplasma device can be operated more than 210 min without showing any sign of degradation, whereas the CNTs-based one can last only 50 min. Besides the high robustness against the Ar-ion bombardment, the HiD/CNTs material also possesses superior electron field emission properties with low turn-on field of 3.2 V/μm, which is considered as the prime factor for the improved plasma illumination performance of the devices.
