Electron emission from nano-patterned amorphous carbon is realized in this paper. The patterned carbon consists of islands with size of tens of narrometers, and is formed by etching uniform carbon film in oxygen plasma using a bismuth island-like film as the mask. Uniform and stable electron emission is reproducibly obtained, and the emission efficiency is above 2% at an anode voltage of 3 kV. Small carbon particles between large islands are supposed to be necessary for stable electron emission. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.