Structure and fabrication of device, such as light-emitting device or electron-emitting device, having getter region

A light-emitting device is provided with getter material (58) that can readily be distributed in a relatively uniform manner across the device's active light-emitting portion. An electron-emitting device is similarly provided with getter material (112, 110/112, 128, 132, and 142) that can readily be distributed relatively uniformly across the active electron-emitting portion of the device. Techniques such as thermal spraying, angled physical deposition, and maskless electrophoretic/dielectrophoretic deposition can be utilized in depositing the getter material.