Title :
Silicon avalanche cathodes and their characteristics
Author :
Ea, Jung Y. ; Zhu, Dazhong ; Lu, Yicheng ; Lalevic, B. ; Zeto, Robert J.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Rutgers Univ., Piscataway, NJ, USA
fDate :
10/1/1991 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
A highly doped shallow p-n junction (⩽300 Å) is used to fabricate a silicon avalanche cathode (SAC) to serve as an electron source for a micro-vacuum diode. Single and arrayed SACs are integrated on the same chip with separate bias configurations. Since the device fabrication is fully compatible with Si IC processing, high repeatability and reliability are achieved. The device structure and a simple series resistance model are described. An anode collection current of ~0.7 μA is obtained from a single cathode (40-μm diameter), and the emission current is multiplied by the number of cathodes for arrayed cathodes. Emission characteristics are investigated as a function of reverse-bias conditions, anode collection voltages, and cathode diameters. The emission efficiency (anode collection current/total bias current) is found to be almost independent of cathode size; however, higher anode collection voltages increase the emission efficiency
Keywords :
avalanche diodes; cathodes; electron field emission; p-n homojunctions; silicon; vacuum microelectronics; 0.7 muA; 40 micron; Si avalanche cathodes; anode collection current; anode collection voltages; arrayed cathodes; bias configurations; cathode diameters; characteristics; device fabrication; device structure; electron source; emission current; emission efficiency; high repeatability; highly doped shallow p-n junction; micro-vacuum diode; reliability; reverse-bias conditions; series resistance model; Anodes; Cathodes; Current density; Electron emission; Electron sources; P-n junctions; Semiconductor diodes; Silicon; Valves; Voltage;
Journal_Title :
Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on
