Fabrication and testing of vertical metal wedge devices with well defined gate to emitter separation

Cold cathode vacuum microelectronic devices typically consist of a sharp emitter tip, or wedge, separated from a gate by a micron or less, with an anode at a considerably greater separation. Our approach to the problem of fixing the emitter-to-grid separation relies not on photolithography, but rather on the thickness of a deposited conductive film, which is locally removed, to create the emitter-to-gate separation and, in some cases, a series resistor. Using this approach combined with integrated circuit fabrication techniques, we have been able to fabricate sharp wedge and tip emitters.