Fabrication and properties of the field emission array with self-alignment gate electrode

A new method for the fabrication of field emission arrays (FEA) based on bulk/surface silicon micromachining and diamond-like-carbon (DLC) coating was developed. A matrix of self-aligned electron field emitters is formed in silicon by mean anisotropic etching in alkali solution of the front silicon film through micro holes opened in silicon oxide layer. The field emission of the fabricated emitter tips is enhanced by a diamond-like-carbon film formed by chemical vapor deposition on the microtips. Back side contacts are formed by metal patterning. Detailed Raman, Auger and TEM investigations of the deposited DLC films (nanocrystalline diamond smaller than 10 nm) will be presented. In this paper we discuss the problems related to the development of field emission arrays technology. We also demonstrate examples of devices fabricated according to those technologies.