TY - JOUR A1 - Langer, Christoph A1 - Prommesberger, Christian A1 - Ławrowski, Robert Damian A1 - Schreiner, Rupert A1 - Serbun, Pavel A1 - Müller, Günter A1 - Düsberg, Felix A1 - Hofmann, Martin A1 - Bachmann, Michael A1 - Pahlke, Andreas T1 - Field emission properties of p-type black silicon on pillar structures T2 - Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B N2 - Arrays of black silicon field emission pillar structures were fabricated on p-type silicon substrates. Two types of samples with the same number of pillars (arrays of 10 × 10) but different pillar heights (8 and 20 μm) were prepared as well as a black silicon reference sample without pillars. The field emission properties of these cathodes were investigated both by means of integral current-voltage measurements and by field emission scanning microscopy. Samples with a pillar height of 20 μm revealed onset fields as low as 6.4 V/μm, field enhancement factors up to 800, and emission currents up to 8 μA at an applied field of 20 V/μm. Due to the p-type material, a saturation of the emission current for fields above 11 V/μm was observed. This saturation leads to a stable operation with a current fluctuation of less than ±8%. It was found that samples with a pillar height of 20 μm showed improved emission characteristics compared to samples with a pillar height of 8 μm or without pillars. The voltage maps revealed an increased emission homogeneity after a “burn-in” sequence of the sample. The current map showed that a few of the pillars dominate the emission. Integral current stability measurements were performed under different vacuum pressures, in order to investigate altered emission behavior and a potential degradation of the emitters. At pressures above 10−6 mbar, the sample starts to degrade irreversibly. Nevertheless, even after a harsh treatment over 30 min at 5 × 10−5 mbar and at an applied field of 23 V/μm, the cathode was still operating, and did not fail during further operation over 20 h at 5 × 10−8 mbar and at an applied field of 28 V/μm. Y1 - 2021 UR - https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-oth-regensburg/frontdoor/index/index/docId/1038 VL - 34 IS - 2 ER -