TY - JOUR A1 - Schreiner, Rupert A1 - Langer, Christoph A1 - Prommesberger, Christian A1 - Dams, Florian T1 - Compact and Energy-Efficient Field Emission Cathodes for Sensor Applications JF - Advanced Materials Research N2 - We report on miniaturized silicon field emitter arrays for the application in compact and energy-saving vacuum-microelectronic devices, e.g. sensors or x-ray tubes. Since standard silicon semiconductor technology has been used for the fabrication, they may be easily integrated with other silicon based circuits and devices on the same chip. The silicon tip geometry and the operating conditions were optimized in order to obtain highly uniform and stable electron field emission from large area cathode arrays. A series of uniform hexagonal tip arrays containing each 547 tips were fabricated and characterized. The electron emission properties of both individual tips as well as of complete emitter arrays were investigated. A saturation level in the voltage-current characteristics was found, which can be explained by the limitation of the supply of electrons due to the p-type silicon wafer material. When operating the arrays in the current saturation regime at an emission current of ~ 1 nA per tip, a highly stable and low noise emission can be observed. KW - field emission KW - Si-Tip Cathodes KW - Vacuum Sensors Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.1024.372 VL - 1024 SP - 372 EP - 375 PB - Scientific.net ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Bieker, Johannes A1 - Roustaie, Farough A1 - Langer, Christoph A1 - Schreiner, Rupert A1 - Schlaak, Helmut F. T1 - Innovatives Verfahren zur Herstellung und Integration metallischer Nanokonen für die Feldemission T2 - MikroSystemTechnik Kongress 2017 : MEMS, Mikroelektronik, Systeme 23.-25. Oktober 2017 in München N2 - In den letzten Jahren wurde am Institut für Elektromechanische Konstruktionen die Fabrikation und Integration von metallischen Nanodrähten und Nanokonen mittels Template-basierter Abscheidung erforscht. Diese Variante der in-situ Abscheidung von metallischen Nanostrukturen bietet eine Vielzahl von Anwendungsmöglichkeiten. Im Rahmen dieses Beitrags werden das Herstellungsverfahren zur Herstellung metallischer Nanokonen vorgestellt. Dies beinhaltet sowohl die Templatepräparation mittels asymmetrischen Ätzens als auch die anschließende Integration mittels galvanischer Abscheidung. Eine Anwendung der metallischen Nanokonen stellt die Verwendung als Feldemitter in der Vakuumelektronik dar. Es werden erste Messungen der Langzeitstabilität des Feldemissionsstromes der metallischen Konen präsentiert. N2 - Recently the fabrication and integration of metallic nanowires and nanocones based on ion-track etched templates has been in the focus of research at the Institute for Electromechanical Design at the TU Darmstadt. Using the method for the in-situ deposition various applications are feasible. In this paper we present the fabrication method for in-situ deposition of metallic nanocones, including the preparation of the polymer templates based on asymmetric etching and the process description for integration via electrodeposition. Giving one example for an application, the metallic nanocones can be used as field emitters in vacuum electronics. The field emission properties will be presented briefly. T2 - Innovative fabrication method for in-situ deposition of metallic nanocones for field emission KW - Ätzen KW - Feldemission KW - galvanische Abscheidung KW - Herstellverfahren KW - Langzeitstabilität KW - Nanodraht KW - Nanostruktur KW - Polymer KW - Prozessbeschreibung KW - Vakuum Y1 - 2017 SN - 978-3-8007-4491-6 IS - CD-ROM SP - 797 EP - 800 PB - VDE-Verlag CY - München ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Kleshch, Victor I. A1 - Serbun, Pavel A1 - Orekhov, Anton A1 - Lützenkirchen-Hecht, Dirk A1 - Obraztsov, Alexander N. A1 - Prommesberger, Christian A1 - Langer, Christoph A1 - Schreiner, Rupert A1 - Lutzenkirchen-Hecht, Dirk T1 - Field emission properties of p-type silicon tips decorated with tungsten nanoparticles T2 - 2017 30th International Vacuum Nanoelectronics Conference (IVNC), 10-14 July 2017, Regensburg, Germany N2 - An array of conical-shaped p-type silicon tips was fabricated by using reactive ion etching and sharpening oxidation. The apex of each tip was decorated by a tungsten hemispherical nanoparticle. Field emission properties of the tips were measured by a tungsten-needle anode positioned above the tip apex. Tips decorated with tungsten nanoparticles demonstrated a smaller saturation region in current-voltage characteristics compared to the pristine tips. An emission activation process, which consisted in sudden current increase at certain value of applied voltage, was observed for the decorated silicon tips. This behavior was explained by the formation of vertical protrusions extending from the metal particles revealed by scanning electron microscopy after field emission experiments. KW - Current measurement KW - field emission KW - Ions KW - Iron KW - metal nanoparticles KW - nanoparticles KW - p-type silicon KW - Scanning electron microscopy KW - silicon KW - Tungsten Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/IVNC.2017.8051580 SP - 138 EP - 139 PB - IEEE ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Knapp, Wolfram A1 - Langer, Christoph A1 - Prommesberger, Christian A1 - Lindner, Matthias A1 - Schreiner, Rupert T1 - Investigations of the transition from field electron emission to stable plasma discharge in a micro electron source at vacuum pressure T2 - 2017 30th International Vacuum Nanoelectronics Conference (IVNC), 10-14 July 2017, Regensburg, Germany N2 - We report on the transition from field electron emission to plasma discharges. During an experiment with a miniaturized field emission electron source a plasma discharge accompanied by a luminous effect was observed. A novel graphical evaluation method was used to interpret and to compare the observed phenomenon. KW - CATHODES KW - Discharges (electric) KW - electron source KW - electron sources KW - Fault location KW - field emission KW - field emission measurement KW - glow discharge KW - Glow discharges KW - micro arc KW - plasma discharge KW - Plasmas KW - Si-tip cathode Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/IVNC.2017.8051594 SP - 166 EP - 167 PB - IEEE ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dams, Florian A1 - Navitski, Aliaksandr A1 - Prommesberger, Christian A1 - Serbun, Pavel A1 - Langer, Christoph A1 - Müller, Günter A1 - Schreiner, Rupert T1 - Homogeneous Field Emission Cathodes With Precisely Adjustable Geometry Fabricated by Silicon Technology JF - IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices N2 - Silicon-based cathodes with precisely aligned field emitter arrays of sharp tips applicable for miniaturized electron sources were successfully fabricated and characterized. This was made possible by an improved fabrication process using wet thermal oxidation, wet etching, and reactive-ion etching steps with adjustable anisotropy. As substrate materials, both p-doped silicon and n-doped silicon were used. The cathode chips contain about 3 × 10 5 Si tips/cm 2 in a triangular array with tip heights of 2.5 μm, tip radii of less than 30 nm, and spacing of 20 μm. Well-aligned field emission (FE) and excellent homogeneity from all tips (i.e., 100% efficiency) and maximum stable currents of typically 0.1 μA (0.6 μA) for p (n)-type Si were reproducibly achieved. The current-voltage characteristics of the p-Si tips exhibit the expected saturation at around 10 nA with around ten times better current stability, whereas the n-Si tips show the usual Fowler-Nordheim behavior. Additional coating of the Si tips with 5-nm Cr and 10-nm Au layers resulted in improved stability and at least five times higher average FE current limits (about 3 μA) at about 30% higher operation voltage. KW - cathodes KW - electron field emission KW - elemental semiconductors KW - Field emission (FE) cathodes KW - field emitter array (FEA) KW - miniaturized electron sources KW - oxidation KW - silicon KW - silicon tips KW - sputter etching Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/TED.2012.2206598 SN - 0018-9383 SN - 1557-9646 VL - 59 IS - 10 SP - 2832 EP - 2837 PB - IEEE ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Langer, Christoph A1 - Berndt, Dominik A1 - Schreiner, Rupert T1 - Sensitivity of thermal conductivity vacuum gauges for constant current and constant temperature operation JF - Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B: Nanotechnology and Microelectronics N2 - To optimize the measurement range of thermal conductivity vacuum gauges, an expression for the sensitivity is required that takes into account all geometrical, material-specific, and operating parameters. Therefore, equations of the sensor output signal as a function of the pressure for the constant current and the constant temperature mode have been developed analytically. Based on these equations, the sensitivity of the vacuum gauge and its influencing parameters was investigated and discussed. For comparable conditions, the constant temperature operation shows a significantly higher sensitivity for high pressures, while the constant current operation shows higher sensitivity at low pressures. The sensitivity in both the constant current and the constant temperature mode depends on the ratio of the filament surface area and the parasitic thermal conductance. In addition, for the constant current operation, the sensitivity also depends on the current value and the temperature coefficient of the filament resistor. For the constant temperature operation, the sensitivity additionally depends on the distance of the filament and the reference plane. However, to extend the measurement range of a thermal conductivity vacuum gauge toward low pressures, a reduction of the parasitic thermal conductance is mandatory for both the constant current and the constant temperature mode. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1116/6.0001964 VL - 40 IS - 5 PB - AIP Publishing ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Langer, Christoph A1 - Prommesberger, Christian A1 - Dams, Florian A1 - Schreiner, Rupert T1 - Theoretical investigations into the field enhancement factor of silicon structures T2 - 25th International Vacuum Nanoelectronics Conference (IVNC) - Jeju, Korea (South), 09.- 13.07.2012 N2 - In order to optimize our field-emitting silicon structures, the influence of geometric parameters like aspect ratio, aperture angle and curvature on the field enhancement factor was investigated by finite element simulations. A universal geometric model consisting of a rounded triangle and elliptic curvatures was taken for modeling a variety of different silicon tip as well as ridge structures. Whereas, a high dependency of the field enhancement on the aperture angle was found, the simulations show that the elliptic curvature affects the field enhancement only marginal. KW - elemental semiconductors KW - field emitter arrays KW - field enhancement factor KW - finite element analysis KW - silicon KW - silicon field emitter Y1 - 2012 SN - 978-1-4673-1984-3 SN - 978-1-4673-1983-6 SN - 978-1-4673-1982-9 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/IVNC.2012.6316886 SN - 2380-6311 SN - 2164-2370 PB - IEEE CY - Piscataway, N.J. ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Prommesberger, Christian A1 - Bachmann, Michael A1 - Düsberg, Felix A1 - Langer, Christoph A1 - Ławrowski, Robert Damian A1 - Hofmann, Martin A1 - Pahlke, Andreas A1 - Schreiner, Rupert T1 - Regulation of the Transmitted Electron Flux in a Field-Emission Electron Source Demonstrated on Si Nanowhisker Cathodes JF - IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices N2 - 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. KW - Cathodes KW - Nanostructured devices KW - Current measurement KW - Photonics KW - Electron sources KW - Emissions KW - Voltage measurement Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/TED.2017.2763239 SN - 5128-5133 VL - 64 IS - 12 PB - IEEE ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Langer, Christoph A1 - Bomke, Vitali A1 - Hausladen, Matthias A1 - Ławrowski, Robert Damian A1 - Prommesberger, Christian A1 - Bachmann, Michael A1 - Schreiner, Rupert T1 - Silicon Chip Field Emission Electron Source Fabricated by Laser Micromachining JF - Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B N2 - The components for a silicon chip electron source were fabricated by laser micromachining using pulsed laser ablation and wet chemical cleaning and etching dips. The field emission electron source consists of a silicon field emission cathode with 4 × 4 conical shaped emitters with a height of 250 μm and a tip radius of about 50 nm, a 50 μm thick laser-structured mica spacer, and a silicon grid electrode with a grid periodicity of 200 μm and a bar width of 50 μm. These three components are combined to a single chip with the size of 14 × 10 mm2 and the thickness of 1 mm to form the electron source. Several of these devices were characterized in ultrahigh vacuum. Onset voltages of about 165 V and cathode currents of about 15 μA for voltages lower than 350 V were observed. Operating the electron source with an anode voltage of 500 V and an extraction grid voltage of 300 V yielded a cathode current of 4.5 μA ± 8.9%, an anode current of 4.0 μA ± 9.6%, and a corresponding grid transmittance of 89%. Regulating the anode current by the extraction grid voltage, an extremely stable anode current of 5.0 μA ± 0.017% was observed. A long-term measurement over 120 h was performed, and no significant degradation or failure was observed. KW - Ultra-high vacuum KW - Field emitter arrays KW - Etching KW - Electrical properties and parameters KW - Electron sources KW - Laser ablation KW - Laser micromachining KW - Silicon chip KW - Triodes Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1116/1.5134872 VL - 38 IS - 1 PB - AIP Publishing ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Breuer, Janis A1 - Bachmann, Michael A1 - Düsberg, Felix A1 - Pahlke, Andreas A1 - Edler, Simon A1 - Langer, Christoph A1 - Prommesberger, Christian A1 - Ławrowski, Robert Damian A1 - Schreiner, Rupert A1 - Serbun, Pavel A1 - Lützenkirchen-Hecht, Dirk T1 - Extraction of the current distribution out of saturated integral measurement data of p-type silicon field emitter arrays JF - Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B N2 - At the moment, only complicated techniques are known for the determination of array properties of field emitter arrays such as the number of active tips, the current distribution, or the individual tip radii. In this work, a method for extracting these parameters from integral measurement data is presented. A model describing the characteristics of a single emitter, including the saturation as a function of the applied voltage and the emitter radius, is developed. It is shown that experimental data of field emitter arrays can be represented as the sum of these functions and the characteristic parameters can be fitted to field emission data of an array. Using this method, the values of the radii as well as the parameters of distribution models can be determined directly. Analysis of experimental data from p-type Si emitter arrays shows that only 1–2% of the tips contribute significantly. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1116/1.5035189 VL - 36 IS - 5 PB - AIP Publishing ER -