Studies of field emission current from amorphous silicon deposited on a tungsten tip

Field electron emission from an amorphous silicon deposited tungsten tip ha s been studied. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics corresponding to the as-deposited and annealed states of the emitter were recorded. These ch aracteristics showed semiconducting behaviour. Field emission current fluct uations from the two states were recorded. As-deposited tig shows more spik es in low-field region and a mixture of spikes and steps at higher fields. Fast Fourier Transform analysis of the current signal shows Lorentzian-type of power spectrum which is indicative of bistable traps in a-Si : H. Total emission current level remained almost constant for the entire duration of recording. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. Ail rights reserved.