CONTROL OF EMISSION CURRENTS FROM SILICON FIELD EMITTER ARRAYS USING A BUILT-IN MOSFET

We have investigated the emission mechanism of p-type and n/p-type sil icon field emitter arrays (FEAs) and have obtained the model for carri er flows, in which the emission current is limited by the supply of el ectrons both from the depletion layers near emitter tips and from the inversion layers under the gate electrodes. Based on this model, we ha ve proposed and fabricated a new current-controllable silicon FEA inco rporating a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect-transistor structur e (MOSFET-structured silicon FEA). The fabricated device exhibits rema rkable stability of emission currents, compared with the conventional n-type silicon FEA.