Title :
Materials development and current transport in vacuum microelectronic devices
Author :
Rack, Philip D. ; Li, Jie ; Ostdiek, Paul ; Peterson, Jeffrey J. ; Li, Linh ; Rogelstad, Terrance
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Microelectron. Eng., Rochester Inst. of Technol., NY, USA
fDate :
6/23/1905 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
A simple vacuum diode structure has been fabricated using standard microelectronic processing and the electron transport has been investigated. Tungsten and tungsten-carbon thin films have been evaluated and the work function of the tungsten-carbon emitter material was determined to be ~3.6 eV. A sharpened emitter structure was also fabricated which had a significantly lower turn-on field due to a geometric enhancement in the emitter tip. The electron transport was found to conduct along the surface of the device, which was attributed to dielectric loading of the underlying SiO2 layer. Other contributions which affect the electron trajectory were suggested such as electron-electron Coulomb repulsion as well as dynamic surface charging
Keywords :
electric current; electron field emission; integrated circuit technology; vacuum microelectronics; work function; 3.6 eV; SiO2; W; WC; current transport; dielectric loading; dynamic surface charging; electron device surface conduction; electron trajectory; electron transport; electron-electron Coulomb repulsion; emitter tip; geometric enhancement; materials development; sharpened emitter structure; standard microelectronic processing; tungsten thin films; tungsten-carbon emitter material; tungsten-carbon thin films; turn-on field; underlying SiO2 layer; vacuum diode structure; vacuum microelectronic devices; work function; CMOS technology; Electron guns; Etching; Microelectronics; Semiconductor diodes; Space technology; Surface charging; Testing; Tungsten; Vacuum technology;
Conference_Titel :
University/Government/Industry Microelectronics Symposium, 2001. Proceedings of the Fourteenth Biennial
Conference_Location :
Richmond, VA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-6691-3
DOI :
10.1109/UGIM.2001.960316
