Extremely stable and harsh-environment devices by Transfer Mold field emitter fabrication method

Extremely stable and harsh-environment devices have been fabricated by Transfer Mold emitter fabrication method and by using amorphous carbon (a-C) as an emitter material to realize the vacuum nanoelectronic devices such as electric propulsion engines, power switching devices and field emission displays (FEDs) in harsh environments, for example, in strong radical atmospheres of space, in high and low temperature atmospheres, and in oxidation gas atmospheres during FEDs fabrication process. Transfer Mold a-C FEAs exhibit the most stable field emission characteristics having the emission fluctuation ratio of ±1.62%, which is the lowest values ever reported. Panel and pixel electric thrusters by using Transfer Mold FEAs have been proposed. These electric thrusters make it easy to produce large and small thrusters. The Transfer Mold a-C FEAs exhibit very stable field-emission characteristics and the highest resistance to harsh environments. Therefore, they can be used to make highly efficient and reliable vacuum electronic devices such as electric propulsion engines and FEDs that are manufactured by using various reactive gases and highly oxidizing atmospheres.