Electron field emission characteristics of electrochemical etched Si tip array

Two-dimensional arrays of Si tips for electron field emission were fabricated using combination of photolithography and electrochemical etching. The array has good uniformity and near optimum shape for field emission. The current–voltage characteristics were measured and fitted with the Fowler–Nordheim model. The derived field enhancement factors are among the best figures of merit for electron field emitters. The result shows that Si tip array fabricated with this process has potential applications in vacuum microelectronics.