A new structure for improving the uniformity and electron emission efficiency of surface conduction electron emitters

Analysis of the influence of nanofissure morphology on the performance of surface-conduction electron emitters

“…It has been proven that the proposed SCE structure with a SiO 2 strip under the Pd film can more effectively control the position and size of the fissures created by the electroforming process than can a normal SCE structure [19]. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images show that the nanofissures own similar morphologies for different SCE units of same or different samples after the electroforming process.…”

“…The configuration of the SCE device and cross section plots of the SCE on the xy plane are shown in figure 1. The SCE depicted in figure 1 Unlike the normal SCE structure, a SiO 2 strip was added in the proposed SCE under the middle of the conductive film [19], and a nanoscale fissure was formed on the edge of the strip during the electroforming process. For the electroforming process, the sample was put into a vacuum chamber.…”

“…When the conducting current between the co-planar electrodes dropped dramatically, the nanoscale fissure was formed due to the joule heat effect. The details can be found in [19], and this work emphasized on the analysis of the microcosmic mechanism of the better electron emission property of this proposed structure. Normally, PdO is used as the conductive film material, but PdO would have been restored to Pd during the electroforming process [20].…”

“…Inhomogeneous fissures will significantly hinder progress in the practical application of SCEs. To improve fissure uniformity, we proposed a new SCE structure and demonstrated its effectiveness [19].…”