Fabrication of a Field Emitter Array with a Built-in Einzel Lens

Abstract

A field emitter array (FEA) with four stacked gate electrodes, that is, FEA with a built-in einzel lens, was fabricated using an etch-back technique. In our method, gate hole opening is a self-aligned process; therefore, the axes of electrode holes are well aligned without precise lithography. Emitter tip opening is also a unique process: the tip opening is usually carried out using buffered hydrofluoric (BHF) acid to prevent tip damage. However, in the case of the FEA with a multistacked electrode, BHF etching produces a long undercut under the electrode, particularly under the upper electrode. In our process, the upper lens electrode is used as a photolithography mask when etching silicon dioxide in order to prevent excess undercut. In this paper, the details of fabrication are described.

Field-Emission Characteristics of Molded Molybdenum Nanotip Arrays With Stacked Collimation Gate Electrodes

“…We observe tendencies that I c increases faster than I a and I em for positive V c and a slight increase of Ic with the decrease of V c for V c below -20 V. The former can be ascribed to the increased capture of the field emission electrons by G c while the latter can be ascribed a field emission from the G ex edges to G c as observed in Ref. 16]. Neverthless, I c as well as the difference between I em and I a are less than 5 % of I a for V c below 0 V; the capture of the field-emission electrons by G ex and G c is minimal and that the gate leak currents are small.…”

High‐Performance On‐Chip Thermionic Electron Micro‐Emitter Arrays Based on Super‐Aligned Carbon Nanotube Films

“…On‐chip integrated electron sources with a small footprint are critical building blocks in vacuum microelectronics and they have demonstrated their great potential in various application fields, such as miniaturized X‐ray tubes, vacuum microelectronics integrated circuits, miniaturized electron microscopes, ion thrusters and charge compensation devices for ion implantation systems, etc. However, up to now, practical on‐chip electron sources with stable and reproducible emission performances remain elusive.…”

Highly collimated electron beams from double-gate field emitter arrays with large collimation gate apertures

“…By applying a negative bias to G col , the fieldemission electron beam can be collimated. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] The reported structures differ in terms of location of G col with respect to G ext , as well as in the number of emitters per single G col aperture. Among these, stacked double-gate devices providing a G col aperture for individual emitters exhibit the smallest electron beam emission angle.…”