Development of dry-processed silicon nanodot planar cold cathode and its electron emission properties

Abstract

A dry-processed planar-type cold cathode has been developed using a nanometer-sized Si dot film as an electron drift layer. Multilayered Si-nanodot films were fabricated on a n-type single-crystalline Si (c-Si) wafer by sequential dry processing (low-pressure chemical vapor deposition) and subsequent thermal oxidation. Planar-type cold cathodes composed of a thin Au film, a nanometer-sized Si dot film, a c-Si substrate, and a back contact exhibit fluctuation-free electron emission with small angle dispersion. The emission efficiency was 0.14% at an applied voltage of 20V for the device with the average Si dot size of 1.3nm. The emission model based on multiple tunneling cascade in nanocrystalline silicon dot chain interconnected via tunnel oxide has been supported by the device fabricated using dry processing.

Electron Emission Properties of Silicon-Rich Silicon Oxide Film Prepared by Reactive Magnetron Sputtering Deposition and Rapid Thermal Annealing

“…The emission efficiency of field emission cathodes based on Si quantum dots formed by very-high-frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition were improved through the thickness optimization, and the annealing and thermal-oxidation treatment of nc-Si film 24,25 . The field emission cathodes based on a multilayer Si-nanodot film as an electron drift layer were fabricated by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition and subsequent thermal oxidation 26,27 . The surface-oxidized silicon nanocrystals could emit electrons with a non-Maxwellian energy distribution 28 .…”

Evaluation of the potential distribution in a multiple stacked Si quantum dots structure by hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

“…Quasi-zero dimensional silicon such as porous-Si, nanocrystalline-Si and Si quantum dots (Si-QDs) not only has unique physical properties but also shows interesting functionalities in the field of electronics and photonics. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Recently, electron field emission (FE) from multiple stacked Si-QDs structures and porous-Si has attracted considerable attentions because of their potential to realize surface-emitting cold cathodes. [16][17][18][19][20] In addition, quasi-zero dimensional Si based FE is useful in atmospheric-pressure gases and chemical solutions.…”

Electroluminescence of superatom-like Ge-core/Si-shell quantum dots by alternate field-effect-induced carrier injection

“…2,3) Therefore, Si-based quantum dots (QDs) have drawn significant attention as active elements in various optical and electronic applications including solid-state quantum computation. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10] In particular, light emission from Si-based nanostructures including Si-and Ge-QDs has stimulated considerable interest in the field of silicon-based photonics because of the potential to combine photonic processing with electronic processing on a single chip. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17] The quantum confinement effect leads to enormous increase in the light emission efficiencies of Si-and Ge-QDs.…”