Silicon field emitter capable of low voltage emission

A silicon field emitter of a very low voltage emission type has been obtained. In this emitter, a thermal SiO 2 film was used as an insulator which separates the gate electrode from the cathode substrate. It is easy to decrease the distance between the gate electrode and the emitter by thermal oxidation and oblique deposition process. In this field emitter, in spite of 3 µm diameter of initial mask size, we were able to obtain a 400 nm gap which is the distance between the gate electrode and the emitter tip. Therefore, the onset of emission was established at gate voltages as low as 10 V with Fowler-Nordheim-like emission characteristics. Then anode current was 2.5 µA at 25 V in one emitter and transconductance ( g m =ΔIA/ΔVG) was 0.5 µS.