AVS 50th International Symposium
    Nanotubes Wednesday Sessions
       Session NT-WeP

Paper NT-WeP11
A Novel Field Emission Triode Configuration Based on a Cylinder/Plane Geometry and Carbon Nanotubes

Wednesday, November 5, 2003, 11:00 am, Room Hall A-C

Session: Poster Session
Presenter: V.P. Mammana, International Technology Center
Authors: V.P. Mammana, International Technology Center
O. Shenderova, International Technology Center
G.E. McGuire, International Technology Center
Correspondent: Click to Email
Field emission devices are an excellent alternative for a myriad of applications requiring highly efficient and compact electron sources, such as flat panel displays, microwave tubes and plasma thrusters. Although field emission devices with several different triode configurations have been developed, there is still a need for devices with increased robustness, lower gate voltage and lower gate parasitic current that are easy to manufacture. In this work we propose a new configuration based on a cylinder/plane geometry, in which the cylinder plays the role of cathode and the plane performs as the gate. In the proposed configuration, an insulating dielectric is used between the cathode and the gate, in a way that the gate current is significantly reduced while the overall robustness is increased. Manufacturing this structure is straightforward, since it does not require patterning of the dielectric. The complexity is further reduced if no pixel addressing is needed (for non-display applications), since the dielectric may be blanket deposited or grown. We present electrostatic field calculations made in order to optimize the geometrical parameters of the device, and these calculations demonstrate that emission takes place at gate potentials of a few tens of volts, if carbon nanotubes are included into the structure in order to enhance the local electrostatic field. In this paper we address the dependence of the electrostatic field on the gate voltage, type of dielectric, cylinder/plane distance and cylinder cross-section. Some focusing issues are preliminarily addressed too. A process flow for the manufacture of the device is also proposed.