Electron emission properties of silicon field emitter arrays in gaseous ambient for charge compensation device

Field emitter arrays made of silicon (Si-FEAs) is a possible candidate for the space charge compensation device during ion implantation process for semiconductor devices, because they are free from metal contamination and have less out-gas. When operating in the ion implanter, Si-FEAs suffer from the pressure increase due to out-gassing from resist materials on a silicon wafer. We examined electron emission properties of the Si-FEAs in H₂, CH₄, CO, O₂, or CO₂ ambient, which are gases resulting from ion implantation to photoresist. In the work of Gotoh et al. (2006), Si-FEAs treated by CHF₃ plasma (Si:C-FEA) were also examined. As a result, it was found that O₂ ambient shortened the lifetime of the Si-FEA, but not for the lifetime of the Si:C-FEA. On the other hand, reductive ambient produced good properties of electron emission. In this study, we examined the lifetime of the Si-FEA and the Si:C-FEA in O₂ ambient again to reproduce the previous result, and also the lifetime in C₂H₄ which is also one of the major gases in the implantation ambient.