ULTRA SHARP CRYSTALLINE SILICON TIP ARRAY USED AS FIELD EMITTER

This article describes the fabrication of single crystal silicon field emission tip arrays. Each array consists of 2500 tips. We used 4 in. (100) oriented n type silicon wafers 0.008 - 0.020 Omega cm, Sb doped. The tips were formed using a RIE process. We achieved crystalline emi tter tip radiuses of 1.5 - 2 nm. The extraction yid is a self aligned, sputter deposited Ti-0.1 W-0.9 film. The radiuses of the extraction g rid apertures range from 300 to 150 nm and have a tip to tip spacing f rom 10 to 5 mu m. The testing was done in vacuum with a distance of 50 0 mu m between extraction grid and anode. We have seen maximum stable array currents up to 2 mu A An anode current of 10 nA was initially de tected at minimal gate bias of about 14 V.