TY - JOUR A1 - Schels, Andreas A1 - Herdl, Florian A1 - Hausladen, Matthias A1 - Wohlfartsstätter, Dominik A1 - Edler, Simon A1 - Bachmann, Michael A1 - Pahlke, Andreas A1 - Schreiner, Rupert A1 - Hansch, Walter T1 - Quantitative Field Emission Imaging for Studying the Doping-Dependent Emission Behavior of Silicon Field Emitter Arrays JF - Micromachines N2 - Field emitter arrays (FEAs) are a promising component for novel vacuum micro- and nanoelectronic devices, such as microwave power amplifiers or fast-switching X-ray sources. However, the interrelated mechanisms responsible for FEA degradation and failure are not fully understood. Therefore, we present a measurement method for quantitative observation of individual emission sites during integral operation using a low-cost, commercially available CMOS imaging sensor. The emission and degradation behavior of three differently doped FEAs is investigated in current-regulated operation. The measurements reveal that the limited current of the p-doped emitters leads to an activation of up to 55% of the individual tips in the array, while the activation of the n-type FEA stopped at around 30%. This enhanced activation results in a more continuous and uniform current distribution for the p-type FEA. An analysis of the individual emitter characteristics before and after a constant current measurement provides novel perspectives on degradation behavior. A burn-in process that trims the emitting tips to an integral current-specific ideal field enhancement factor is observed. In this process, blunt tips are sharpened while sharp tips are dulled, resulting in homogenization within the FEA. The methodology is described in detail, making it easily adaptable for other groups to apply in the further development of promising FEAs. Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14112008 VL - 14 IS - 11 PB - MDPI ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Schels, Andreas A1 - Herdl, Florian A1 - Hausladen, Matthias A1 - Wohlfartsstätter, Dominik A1 - Bachmann, Michael A1 - Edler, Simon A1 - Düsberg, Felix A1 - Pahlke, Andreas A1 - Buchner, Philipp A1 - Schreiner, Rupert A1 - Hansch, Walter T1 - Beta Factor Mapping of Individual Emitting Tips During Integral Operation of Field Emission Arrays T2 - 2023 IEEE 36th International Vacuum Nanoelectronics Conference (IVNC), 10-13 July 2023, Cambridge, MA, USA N2 - Emission uniformity mappings of field emitter arrays provide important insight into degradation mechanisms, but are often laborious, non-integral, costly, or not quantifiable. Here, a low-cost Raspberry Pi HQ camera is used as an extraction anode to quantify the emission distribution in field emitter arrays. A verification measurement using controlled SEM electron beams proves, that current-voltage characteristics of individual emission sites can be determined by combining the integral electrical data with the image data. The characteristics are used to quantify the field enhancement factors of an 30x30 silicon field emitter array during integral operation. Comparison of the field enhancement factor distributions before and after a one-hour constant current operation at 1 µA shows an increase from 50 actively emitting tips before to 156 after the measurement. It is shown, that the distribution of field enhancement factors shifts towards lower values, due to the increasing degradation for high field enhancement tips, especially above 1500. KW - field emission KW - field emission imaging KW - field emission distribution KW - field enhancement factor KW - CMOS imaging KW - beta factor Y1 - 2023 SN - 979-8-3503-0143-4 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/IVNC57695.2023.10188957 SP - 224 EP - 226 PB - IEEE ER -