Field emission arrays by silicon micromachining

A new method for the fabrication of field emission arrays based on bulk/sur face silicon micromachining and diamond-like carbon coating was developed. A matrix of self-aligned electron field emitters is formed in silicon wafer s. Anisotropic etching in alkali solution of the front silicon film through micropatterned holes opened in a hard masking trilayer results in microtip pixels. The field emission of the emitter tips is enhanced by a diamond-li ke-carbon (DLC) film formed by chemical vapor deposition on the microtips. The DLC coating allows a field-emission current of about 80 mu A per tip at 300 V and a distance of 60 mu m. High accuracy of patterning combined with batch processing enables cost effective production of dense arrays. Flat p anel displays, electrostatic scrubbers and other applications requiring eff icient electron emission are among the possible applications of the propose d technology. (C) 2000 American Vacuum Society. [S0734-211X(00)10102-7].