Wj. Bintz et Ne. Mcgruer, SIO2-INDUCED SILICON EMITTER EMISSION INSTABILITY, Journal of vacuum science & technology. B, Microelectronics and nanometer structures processing, measurement and phenomena, 12(2), 1994, pp. 697-699
An emission instability attributed to an oxide layer on a silicon emit
ter tip surface has been characterized. The instability leads to a cur
rent runaway which often results in device failure. When device failur
e does not occur, the instability is a one time event while the device
remains in a vacuum environment. The magnitude of the instability inc
reases with increasing oxide thickness and can be effectively eliminat
ed by etching in buffered HF immediately before testing or device pack
aging.