A thin (∼2 nmthick) amorphous diamond coating was prepared on single crystal silicon tip arrays by using a filtered vacuum arc plasma deposition technique. The coating has a microscopically uniform morphology. As compared to uncoated tips, the electron emission of the coated tip arrays is enhanced, showing an increase in the total current, lower turn-on field and a lower-slope Fowler–Nordheim plot. We propose that field-emitted electrons could tunnel through such a thin coating with few scattering events. It is shown that the low potential barrier at the interface is the major cause of the enhancing effects instead of the negative surface electron affinity of the coating. ©1998 American Institute of Physics.