The authors report about field emission from reconstructed phosphorus-doped diamond surfaces. Field emission from reconstructed surfaces is compared with that of hydrogen plasma treated and wet chemical oxidized surfaces. The threshold field of reconstructed surface is 16 V/mu m, while 28 and 44 V/mu m are required for oxidized and H-terminated surfaces, respectively. Field emission models are introduced to discuss the data by taking into account the electron affinities of diamond surfaces. For the first time, the authors also show field emission stabilities for reconstructed, oxidized, and H-terminated diamonds. (c) 2007 American Vacuum Society.