Control of emission currents from silicon field emitter arrays using a built-in MOSFET

We have investigated the emission mechanism of p-type and n/p-type silicon field emitter arrays (FEAs) and have obtained the model for carrier flows, in which the emission current is limited by the supply of electrons both from the depletion layers near emitter tips and from the inversion layers under the gate electrodes. Based on this model, we have proposed and fabricated a new current-controllable silicon FEA incorporating a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect-transistor structure (MOSFET-structured silicon FEA). The fabricated device exhibits remarkable stability of emission currents, compared with the conventional n-type silicon FEA.