Fabrication and characterization of silicon field emitter arrays by spin-on-glass etch-back process

Abstract

Silicon field emitter arrays have been fabricated by a novel method employing a two-step tip etch and spin-on-glass etch-back process using double layered thermal/tetraethylorthosilicate oxides as a gate dielectric. Partial etching was performed by low viscosity photoresist coating and O2 plasma ashing in order to form the double layered gate dielectric. A small gate aperture with low gate leakage current was obtained by the novel process. The height and the radius of the fabricated emitter was about 1.1 μm and less than 100 Å, respectively. The anode emission current from a 256 tip array was 23 μA (i.e., 90 nA/tip) at a gate voltage of 60 V. The turn-on gate voltage was 40 V. The gate current was less than 0.1% of the total current (i.e., gate current and anode current).