Emission characteristics and in-situ TEM observation of Si lateral field emitters

A silicon lateral field emitter was fabricated by Si micromachining technique for in-situ observation by a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Two opposing probes acting as a cathode and an anode were fabricated using an anisotropic etching and a local oxidation of silicon technique. The sharpness of the emitter tip was 10 nm and the distance between the cathode and anode was less than 200 nm. The emission current could be observed at an anode voltage less than 8V and increases with the anode voltage up to about 16 V in accordance with Fowler-Nordheim relation. To investigate an emitter tip during field emitting, in-situ observation of TEM was carried out. The lattice image at the tip becomes blurred under high emission current condition