A self-assembled thin film edge emitter has been fabricated. The unique fabrication process requires only a tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) thin film with one photolithography step to generate a three-dimensional structure. A high emission site density was achieved compared with that obtained from a flat ta-C film emitter using the same measurement technique. In the high field regime the emission obtained was based on the Fowler-Nordheim emission mechanism. Using the Fowler-Nordheim equation we calculated the field enhancement factor of this emitter to be 80. The potential of ta-C thin films as hard masks for silicon etching in KOH solution was also investigated.