Lateral field emission diode with wedge-type tip and nanogap on separationby implantation of oxygen silicon

A field emission diode array with a novel nanometer scale silicon gap in a separation by implantation oxygen structure was fabricated using the thin f ilm stress that had been generated during high-temperature annealing and co oling. In this work, an interelectrode gap ranging from 20 to 100 nm was ob tained depending on the width of the pattern when the patterned wafer was c ooled after annealing at 1050 degrees C for 1 h in N-2 ambient. The paramet ers for determining the gap size were identified, and the crystal orientati on dependency in forming the gaps was clarified. The proposed nanogap forma tion technique is very simple and applicable to a field emission (FEA) with a short interelectrode distance. The fabricated FEA exhibited a turn on vo ltage of 25 V and an emission current of 6 mu A per tip at 35 V. (C) 2000 A merican Vacuum Society. [S0734-211X(00)04602-3].