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Field emission properties of p-type black silicon on pillar structures

  • 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.

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Metadaten
Author:Christoph LangerORCiD, Christian PrommesbergerORCiD, Robert Damian ŁawrowskiORCiD, Rupert SchreinerORCiDGND, Pavel Serbun, Günter Müller, Felix Düsberg, Martin Hofmann, Michael BachmannORCiD, Andreas Pahlke
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1116/1.4943919
Parent Title (English):Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Year of first Publication:2016
Release Date:2021/05/06
Volume:34
Issue:2
Article Number:02G107
Institutes:Fakultät Angewandte Natur- und Kulturwissenschaften
Fakultät Angewandte Natur- und Kulturwissenschaften / Labor Mikrosensorik
Begutachtungsstatus:peer-reviewed
research focus:Produktion und Systeme