Field-emitter arrays for vacuum microelectronics

Author

Spindt, C.A. ; Holland, C.E. ; Rosengreen, A. ; Brodie, Ivor

Author_Institution

SRI Int., Menlo Park, CA, USA

Volume

38

Issue

10

fYear

1991

fDate

10/1/1991 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2355

Lastpage

2363

Abstract

An ongoing program on microfabricated field-emitter arrays has produced a gated field-emitter tip structure with submicrometer dimensions and techniques for fabricating emitter arrays with tip packaging densities of up to 1.5×10⁷ tips/cm². Arrays have been fabricated over areas varying from a few micrometers up to 13 cm in diameter. Very small overall emitter size, materials selection, and rigorous emitter-tip processing procedures have contributed to reducing the potential required for field emission to tens of volts. Emission current densities of up to 100 A/cm ² have been achieved with small arrays of tips, and 100-mA total emission is commonly produced with arrays 1 mm in diameter containing 10000 tips. Transconductances of 5.0 μS per tip have been demonstrated, indicating that 50 S/cm² should be achievable with tip densities of 10⁷ tips/cm². Details of the cathode arrays and a variety of performance characteristics are discussed

Keywords

electron field emission; vacuum microelectronics; 1 mm to 13 cm; 100 mA; 5 muS; cathode arrays; emission current densities; emitter-tip processing procedures; field emission voltage; gated field-emitter tip structure; large arrays of tips; materials selection; microfabricated field-emitter arrays; performance characteristics; small arrays of tips; small overall emitter size; submicrometer dimensions; tip densities; tip packaging densities; transconductance; vacuum microelectronics; Cathodes; Current density; Electron sources; Field emitter arrays; Insulation; Microelectronics; Silicon; Sputtering; Substrates; Vacuum technology;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9383

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/16.88525

Filename

88525