High aspect ratio silicon tips field emitter array

Micromachined high aspect ratio field emitter areas have been realised to o btain a stable and uniform emission current. Dry etching based on the gas c hopping method was used to etch the 42 mum high ultra sharp emitter tips in single-crystal silicon. Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films of 25-100 mn thick ness were deposited from hydrocarbon precursor gas on the Si tips applying the inductively coupled plasma enhanced chemical vapour-deposition (ICPECVD ) technique. The partial stabilisation of emission current vs. time due to oxygen or nitrogen plasma treatment could be related to surface passivation . and/or the formation of a stable DLC/nanolayer on the emitter surface. It is shown that DLC-coated emitters provide comparable good long-term emissi on stability - the emission current was found to be almost stable during a 3 week operation cycle. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science BY All rights reserved.