We report fabrication and emission testing of NbC/Nb field emitter array cathodes. Previous work found carbide materials resistant to sputtering, to poor vacuum conditions, and to environments with oxygen ambient. In this work, emitters were deposited in arrays nominally having 0.5-mum-diam gate apertures using a lift-off layer and common techniques. Electron beam heated PVD was used throughout with deposition rates of 0.2-0.3 nm/s. Vacuum conditions during deposition were crucial to avoid inclusion of excessive amounts of oxygen. Micrographs of emitter cross sections allowed analysis of system variables, deposition rate, substrate temperature, and lift-off layer thickness. Typical deposition techniques used 300 nm of niobium followed immediately by 250 nm of NbC giving a tip cone of NbC on a truncated base cone of Nb. Emission testing confirmed the benefit of using carbide material where lower turn-on voltages and increased emission stability were realized over emitters made solely from refractory metals. Currents of 50 muA per single emitter tip were obtained while operating in 10(-7) Torr ambient pressure. Emitter operation in limited partial pressures of oxygen did not degrade emission while improvements were noted in current stability while operating in limited pressures of hydrogen. (C) 2003 American Vacuum Society.