Emission area of a field emitter array

Author

Jenkins, David W.

Author_Institution

Amoco Technology Co., Naperville, IL, USA

Volume

40

Issue

3

fYear

1993

fDate

3/1/1993 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

666

Lastpage

672

Abstract

Application of the Fowler-Nordheim formalism to the Spindt emitter results in computed emission areas much smaller than area of the tip. Presented is a model of the current-voltage characteristics of the Spindt emitter which resolves this discrepancy. The model includes the variation of the field across the tip which, if neglected, overestimates the current by as much as an order of magnitude and leads to an inaccurate emission area. A finite-element computation for the electrostatic potential is used to model the field-emitted current density via the Fowler-Nordheim formalism. The current density is summed to compute the macroscopic currents as functions of the collector and gate voltages which is used in turn to compute the plate resistance, transconductance, and voltage gain of the triode. The model is compared to experimental data

Keywords

current density; electron field emission; electrostatics; finite element analysis; modelling; triodes; vacuum microelectronics; FEM; Fowler-Nordheim formalism; Spindt emitter; current-voltage characteristics; electrostatic potential; emission area; field emitter array; field-emitted current density; finite-element computation; gate voltages; model; plate resistance; transconductance; triode; voltage gain; Acceleration; Current density; Current-voltage characteristics; Electrons; Electrostatics; Field emitter arrays; Finite element methods; Microelectronics; Transconductance; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9383

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/16.199375

Filename

199375