Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B Microelectronics and Nanometer Structures Processing Measurement and Phenomena · 2003 · 54 citations · 16 references
EngineeringMaterials EngineeringMaterials ScienceElectronic MaterialsSemiconductor DevicesSemiconductor MaterialsCoatingsSemiconductor Device MaterialsSemiconductor PhysicsSemiconductor Thin FilmsSilicon MaterialsX-ray Photoelectron SpectroscopyBoron CarbideDegradationEmission Degradation AnalysisMagnetron SputteringPolycrystalline SemiconductorsSilicon CarbideVoltageX-ray Diffraction Analysis
We fabricated hafnium carbide (HfC) coated Si field emitter arrays (HfC FEAs) with an extraction-gate electrode to improve the emission characteristics of Si FEAs. Hafnium carbide thin film was deposited by inductively coupled plasma-assisted magnetron sputtering. The HfC film was characterized by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction measurement, and was found to be (111)-oriented polycrystalline film. The HfC FEAs exhibited superior performance. An emission of more than 10 mA could be obtained from the 16 000 tip array, which is 20 times higher than that for Si FEAs. The operational voltage for emission of 1 μA decreased from 61 to 45 V due to the HfC coating. The long-term emission characteristics were also measured. Si FEAs degraded rapidly even in an ultrahigh vacuum chamber. However, the emission degradation in the HfC FEAs was much slower. The number of active tips was counted using an electrostatic-lens projector, and the results revealed that the HfC FEAs had six times as many tips as the Si FEAs had.
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Physical properties of thin-film field emission cathodes with molybdenum cones
C.A. Spindt, I. Brodie, L. M. Humphrey et al. · Journal of Applied Physics · 1976 · 1.5K citations
Formation of silicon tips with <1 nm radius
R. B. Marcus, T. S. Ravi, T. J. Gmitter et al. · Applied Physics Letters · 1990 · 261 citations