Surface Conditioning Effect on Vacuum Microelectronics Components Fabricated by Deep Reactive Ion Etching

TL;DR

This paper explores how surface conditioning affects vacuum microelectronics components fabricated via deep reactive ion etching, focusing on electron emission, device design, and aging characteristics.

Contribution

It introduces a novel fabrication process for vacuum microelectronics using silicon micromachining and analyzes the impact of surface conditioning on device performance.

Findings

Surface conditioning influences electron emission efficiency.

Fabricated lateral field emission diodes demonstrate functional electron emission.

Device aging affects emission stability over time.

Abstract

Advances in material processing such as silicon micromachining are opening the way to vacuum microelectronics. Two-dimensional vacuum components can be fabricated using the microsystems processes. We developed such devices using a single metal layer and silicon micromachining by DRIE. The latter technological step has significant impact on the characteristics of the vacuum components. This paper presents a brief summary of electron emission possibilities and the design leading to the fabrication of a lateral field emission diode. First measurement results and the aging of the devices are also discussed.