@article{HausladenBuchnerBartletal., author = {Hausladen, Matthias and Buchner, Philipp and Bartl, Mathias and Bachmann, Michael and Schreiner, Rupert}, title = {Integrated multichip field emission electron source fabricated by laser-micromachining and MEMS technology}, series = {Journal of Vacuum Science \& Technology B}, volume = {42}, journal = {Journal of Vacuum Science \& Technology B}, number = {1}, publisher = {AIP Publishing}, doi = {10.1116/6.0003233}, abstract = {In this work, high-current field emission electron source chips were fabricated using laser-micromachining and MEMS technology. The resulting chips were combined with commercially available printed circuit boards (PCBs) to obtain a multichip electron source. By controlling the separate electron sources using an external current control circuit, we were able to divide the desired total current evenly across the individual chips deployed in the PCB-carrier. In consequence, we were able to show a decreased degradation due to the reduced current load per chip. First, a single electron source chip was measured without current regulation. A steady-state emission current of 1 mA with a high stability of ±1.3\% at an extraction voltage of 250 V was observed. At this current level, a mean degradation slope of -0.7 μA/min with a nearly perfect transmission ratio of 99\% ± 0.4\% was determined. The measurements of a fully assembled multichip PCB-carrier electron source, using a current control circuit for regulation, showed that an even distribution of the desired total current led to a decreased degradation. This was determined by the increase in the required extraction voltage over time. For this purpose, two current levels were applied to the electron source chips of the PCB-carrier using an external current control circuit. First, 300 μA total current was evenly distributed among the individual electron source chips followed by the emission of 300 μA per electron source chip. This allows the observation of the influence of a distributed and nondistributed total current, carried by the electron source chips. Thereby, we obtained an increase in the mean degradation slope from +0.011 V/min (300 μA distributed) to +0.239 V/min (300 μA per chip), which is approximately 21 times higher. Moreover, our current control circuit improved the current stability to under 0.1\% for both current levels, 300 μA distributed and 300 μA per chip.}, language = {en} } @article{PrommesbergerBachmannDuesbergetal., author = {Prommesberger, Christian and Bachmann, Michael and D{\"u}sberg, Felix and Langer, Christoph and Ławrowski, Robert Damian and Hofmann, Martin and Pahlke, Andreas and Schreiner, Rupert}, title = {Regulation of the Transmitted Electron Flux in a Field-Emission Electron Source Demonstrated on Si Nanowhisker Cathodes}, series = {IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices}, volume = {64}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices}, number = {12}, publisher = {IEEE}, issn = {5128-5133}, doi = {10.1109/TED.2017.2763239}, abstract = {We report on a method to stabilize the transmitted electron flux in a field-emission electron source using an external regulation circuit. The electron source was realized with an array of silicon (Si) nanowhiskers on the top of elongated pillar structures, a mica spacer, and an extraction grid made of Si. As for most applications, the emitted electron current from the cathode is not as crucial as the transmitted electron flux through the extraction grid toward the anode. We investigated a method which allows the regulation directly by the emitted electron flux and not merely on the cathode current. By using this method, we were able to stabilize the emitted electron flux of our electron source down to values below 1\%. Simultaneously, it was shown that there is the possibility to stabilize the influencing value in the real application as well. The effectiveness of this method was demonstrated successfully with an X-ray source setup. The measured X-ray photon count rate was stabilized to a standard deviation of 0.30\% at a pressure of 1 × 10 -7 mbar. Even in harsh environment of 2 × 10 -5 mbar, a stabilization of the X-ray photon count rate down to a value of 0.63\% was achieved.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{BachmannDamsDuesbergetal., author = {Bachmann, Michael and Dams, Florian and D{\"u}sberg, Felix and Hofmann, Martin and Pahlke, Andreas and Langer, Christoph and Ławrowski, Robert Damian and Prommesberger, Christian and Schreiner, Rupert}, title = {Control of the electron source current}, series = {International Vacuum Nanoelectronics Conference (IVNC), 30th, 2017, Regensburg}, booktitle = {International Vacuum Nanoelectronics Conference (IVNC), 30th, 2017, Regensburg}, publisher = {IEEE}, doi = {10.1109/IVNC.2017.8051550}, pages = {66 -- 67}, abstract = {A control circuit to stabilize the flux of electrons transmitted through an extractor electrode is presented. By controlling the emission current a fluctuation with a standard deviation of 0.015\% is observed. However, the achievable stability of the transmitted electron current is limited due to a variation of the extraction grid current ratio showing a standard deviation of 4.33\%. By regulating the difference of the emission current and the extraction grid current an improved stability of the transmitted electron current down to a standard deviation of 0.280\% is observed. Even with operation at 2 × 10 -5 mbar a standard deviation of 0.558\% is achieved.}, language = {en} } @article{BuchnerHausladenBartletal., author = {Buchner, Philipp and Hausladen, Matthias and Bartl, Mathias and Bachmann, Michael and Schreiner, Rupert}, title = {High current field emission from Si nanowires on pillar structures}, series = {Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B: Nanotechnology and Microelectronics}, volume = {42}, journal = {Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B: Nanotechnology and Microelectronics}, number = {2}, publisher = {AIP}, issn = {2166-2754}, doi = {10.1116/6.0003384}, abstract = {We investigate the influence of the geometry and doping level on the performance of n-type silicon nanowire field emitters on silicon pillar structures. Therefore, multiple cathodes with 50 by 50 pillar arrays (diameter: 5 μm, height: 30 μm, spacing: 50 μm) were fabricated and measured in diode configuration. In the first experiment, we compared two geometry types using the same material. Geometry 1 is black silicon, which is a highly dense surface covering a forest of tightly spaced silicon needles resulting from self-masking during a plasma etching process of single crystal silicon. Geometry 2 are silicon nanowires, which are individual spaced-out nanowires in a crownlike shape resulting from a plasma etching process of single crystal silicon. In the second experiment, we compared two different silicon doping levels [n-type (P), 1-10 and <0.005 Ω cm] for the same geometry. The best performance was achieved with lower doped silicon nanowire samples, emitting 2 mA at an extraction voltage of 1 kV. The geometry/material combination with the best performance was used to assemble an integrated electron source. These electron sources were measured in a triode configuration and reached onset voltages of about 125 V and emission currents of 2.5 mA at extraction voltages of 400 V, while achieving electron transmission rates as high as 85.0\%.}, language = {en} }