Diamond like carbon (DLC) thin films were used as the cathode layers of inorganic alternating current driven thick dielectric electroluminescent devices. The results indicated that electroluminescent (EC) devices with DLC cathode has superior brightness over the EL with Al or Cr-doped DLC cathodes. Cr-doping in DLC thin film can increase the electrical conductivity, but degrades the EL properties. Also, the EL device with DLC cathode possesses the lowest decay rate among various cathodes, because of the high thermal conductivity and the inert nature of DLC film. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.