EP0490536B1 - Dispositif d'émission de champ microélectronique - Google Patents

Dispositif d'émission de champ microélectronique Download PDF

Info

Publication number
EP0490536B1
EP0490536B1 EP19910311052 EP91311052A EP0490536B1 EP 0490536 B1 EP0490536 B1 EP 0490536B1 EP 19910311052 EP19910311052 EP 19910311052 EP 91311052 A EP91311052 A EP 91311052A EP 0490536 B1 EP0490536 B1 EP 0490536B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
emitter
substrate
gate
collector
insulation layer
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP19910311052
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0490536A1 (fr
Inventor
Akira Kaneko
Toru Kanno
Keiko Morishita
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Panasonic Holdings Corp
Original Assignee
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from JP33241290A external-priority patent/JPH04206127A/ja
Priority claimed from JP6157491A external-priority patent/JP3156265B2/ja
Priority claimed from JP31049191A external-priority patent/JP2601085B2/ja
Application filed by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd filed Critical Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd
Publication of EP0490536A1 publication Critical patent/EP0490536A1/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0490536B1 publication Critical patent/EP0490536B1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

Links

Images

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J21/00—Vacuum tubes
    • H01J21/02—Tubes with a single discharge path
    • H01J21/06—Tubes with a single discharge path having electrostatic control means only
    • H01J21/10—Tubes with a single discharge path having electrostatic control means only with one or more immovable internal control electrodes, e.g. triode, pentode, octode
    • H01J21/105—Tubes with a single discharge path having electrostatic control means only with one or more immovable internal control electrodes, e.g. triode, pentode, octode with microengineered cathode and control electrodes, e.g. Spindt-type
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J3/00—Details of electron-optical or ion-optical arrangements or of ion traps common to two or more basic types of discharge tubes or lamps
    • H01J3/02—Electron guns
    • H01J3/021—Electron guns using a field emission, photo emission, or secondary emission electron source
    • H01J3/022—Electron guns using a field emission, photo emission, or secondary emission electron source with microengineered cathode, e.g. Spindt-type

Definitions

  • This invention relates to a functional vacuum microelectronic device.
  • VMFE vacuum microelectronic field-emission devices
  • the functional vacuum microelectronic field-emission devices electron emission is carried out by a strong electric field of about 10 7 V developed by concentrating electric lines of force at a tip of an emitter which is processed to have a needle shape such that a curvature of the tip of the emitter is less than hundreds nanometers in order to emit electrons.
  • the tip of the emitter is formed in the vertical direction with respect to the substrate.
  • a vacuum transistor of the field-emission type disclosed in IEDM 86, 33.1, p776 is proposed. Its structure will be described with reference to drawings.
  • Fig. 16 is a cross-sectional view of a prior art field-emission type vacuum transistor.
  • silicon Si is used for a substrate 200.
  • a conical emitter 201 as an electron emitting portion which is formed by processing the substrate 200.
  • an insulation layer 202 made of SiO 2 is formed around the emitter 201.
  • a gate 203 and a collector 204 are formed on the insulation layer 202 at a given intervals.
  • a bias power supply 206 and a signal input portion 205 connected in series are connected between the emitter 200 and the gate 203.
  • a load resistor 207 and a collector power supply 208 connected in series are connected between the emitter 201 and the collector 204.
  • a voltage of an output terminal 210 of the collector 204 can be changed in accordance with the voltage change of the signal input portion 205. That is, some type of transistor operation or switching operation is achieved. Moreover, in this vacuum microelectronic field-emission device, a high speed operation is possible because electrons runs through a vacuum as against that electrons run through a solid material in the transistor.
  • a semiconductor material is used for the emitter and processing of the emitter 201 is carried out by anisotropic etching using a unique characteristic of its material.
  • the material of the emitter 201 is a semiconductor, a work function become higher than that of the metal material, so that a quantity of electron emission becomes small. Accordingly, a signal output level become small, so that there is a problem that its characteristic cannot be utilized sufficiently as a switching device, etc.
  • Fig. 17 is a plan view of the three-terminal device of a prior art and Fig. 18 shows a cross section taken on line K-K shown in Fig. 17.
  • Fig. 17 and 18 shows a cross section taken on line K-K shown in Fig. 17.
  • the three-terminal device has, on a substrate 251, a sawtooth-shaped emitter 252, a gate 253 formed a given interval apart from a tip of the emitter 252 and the gate portion is formed in a cylindrical-shape, and an anode 254 formed a given interval apart from the gate 253 on the opposite side of the gate 253 from the emitter 252. Grooves are made by removing portions of the substrate 251 between the emitter 252 and the gate 252, and between the gate 253 and the anode 254.
  • a tungsten (W) film 262 is formed on a substrate 261.
  • a resist is formed in a given shape on the tungsten film 262.
  • the tungsten film 262 is etched using the resist 263 as a mask.
  • a resist 265 is formed again in a given shape to form portions of the gate 264 into a cylindrical shape.
  • the tungsten film 262 is etched again.
  • the emitter 266, gate 264, and an anode 267 are formed.
  • portions of the substrate are removed by etching to form the grooves.
  • Fig. 17 electrons are emitted from the emitter 252 when a voltage is applied between the emitter 252 and the gate 253 such that a potential of the emitter 252 is negative and a potential of the gate 253 is positive and an electric field whose intensity is higher than a given value.
  • the amount of emitted electrons can be changed by variation of the applied voltage.
  • the electrons emitted from the emitter 252 can be taken into the anode 254 by applying a sufficient voltage to the anode 254. That is, the amount of electrons flowing into the anode can be changed by variation of a voltage between the emitter 252 and the gate 253. Therefore, a kind of transistor or switching operation is achieved.
  • this vacuum microelectronic field-emission device a high speed operation is possible because electrons runs through a vacuum space as against that electrons run through a solid material in the transistor.
  • the present invention has been developed in order to reduce the above-described drawbacks inherent to the conventional functional vacuum microelectronic field-emission device.
  • This invention provides a decrease in operation voltage and an amount of emission of electrons by using a material for the emitter portion whose work function is low. Thus, a level of the output signal can be increased and S/N ratio can be improved.
  • the aim of the invention is to provide a functional vacuum microelectronic field-emission device such that yield is improved because of a simple production method, and thus reliability is improved.
  • This invention provides a functional vacuum microelectronic field-emission device having high reproducibility and stability.
  • EP-A-0,260,075 discloses a vacuum microelectronic field-emission devise in accordance with the preamble of claim 1.
  • a vacuum microelectronic field-emission device comprising:
  • Fig. 1 is a plan view of the first embodiment of the invention of a functional vacuum microelectronic field-emission device of this invention.
  • Fig. 2 shows a cross section taken on line Ib-Ib shown in Fig. 1. Portions with various markings in a plan view correspond to portions marked similarly in the corresponding cross-sectional view throughout the specification.
  • an emitter (cathode) 2 is formed on an insulation substrate 1 made of glass, ceramic, etc. (a metallic substrate can be used also).
  • the emitter 2 is made of a material having a low work function such as Mo, Ta, W, ZrC, LaB 6 , etc.
  • a width (seen in Fig. 1) of at least a portion of the emitter successively changes substantially linearly, so that a tip 2a is formed sharply. That is, it is formed to have a wedge portion.
  • an insulation layer 3 made of SiO 2 , Si 3 N 4 , Al 2 O 3 , Ta 2 O 5 , etc. is formed a given interval apart from the wedge portion of the emitter 2.
  • a gate 4 made of Mo, Ta, Cr, Al, or Au, etc. is formed a given interval apart from the emitter 2 on the outside of the wedge portion of emitter 2.
  • a collector (anode) 5 made of Mo, Ta, Cr, Al, or Au, etc. is formed a given interval apart from the gate 4 on the outside of the gate 4 from the wedge portion of emitter 2.
  • the insulation layer 3 is provided to adjust a height of the gate 4 from the substrate 1 to control emission of electrons 12 or drawing-out of the electrons from the emitter 2 by the gate 4.
  • the insulation layer 3 acts as an insulator also.
  • the gate is formed to have a V-shape.
  • Numerals 6 and 7 are a bias power source and a signal input portion respectively.
  • Numerals 8 and 9 are a collector power source and a resistor connected between the emitter 2 and collector 5.
  • Numeral 10 and 11 are terminals.
  • Numeral 12 are electrons emitted from the tip 2a of the emitter 2.
  • the tip 2a is formed to have a radii r1 of the tip 2a which is equal to or less than 1000 angstroms.
  • the tip of the V-shaped gate is formed to have a radii r2 thereof which is equal to or larger than 1 micrometer.
  • the bias power supply 6 and the signal input portion 7 are connected between the emitter 2 and the gate 4.
  • a collector power supply 8 and the resistor 9 are connected between the emitter 2 and the collector 5.
  • This functional vacuum microelectronic field-emission devices are placed in a vacuum space in use.
  • a suitable bias voltage is applied between the emitter 2 and gate 4 by the bias power supply 6.
  • the voltage between the emitter 2 and the gate 4 is a combined voltage of the bias voltage and the input signal voltage. Therefore, an electric field whose intensity determined in accordance with the combined voltage is applied to the emitter 2.
  • an emitter material layer 13 made of Mo, Ta, W, ZrC, and LaB 6 , etc. is formed to form the emitter 2 by spatter deposition, or electron beam deposition, etc. on the substrate 1 made of glass, or ceramics, etc. with its thickness having 300 nanometer to 1 micrometer.
  • a resist 14 is formed with its thickness having 1 to 2 micrometers to have a given pattern on the emitter material layer 13 using the photolithography technique.
  • etching processing is performed to the emitter material layer 13 to have the wedge-shaped emitter 2.
  • the emitter 2 is so processed that its size is smaller than that of the resist 14 by 1 micrometer by selecting the condition that under-etching occurs.
  • the insulating layer 3 made of SiO 2 , Si 3 N 4 , Ta 2 O 5 , etc. and the conducting layer 15 made of Mo, Ta, Cr, Al, Au, etc. are formed by spatter deposition, electron beam deposition, or CVD. etc. on the substrate 1 and the resist 14 with their thicknesses having 300 nanometers to one micrometer and 200 to 500 nanometers respectively.
  • the resist 14 is lifted off together with the insulation layer 3 and the conductive layer 15 on the resist 14.
  • the resist 16 is formed with a given pattern again.
  • the conductive layer 15 is etched using the resist 16 as a mask and then the resist 16 is removed, so that the gate 4 and the collector 5 are formed.
  • the emitter 2 has the wedge-shape with a sharp tip 2a at its right hand of the drawing.
  • a voltage of 100 to 300 volts is applied between the collector 5 and the emitter 2 and a triangle waveform voltage of 0 to 70 volts is applied between the emitter 2 and the gate 4.
  • emission of electrons 12 occurs when the applied voltage is more than 50 V, so that the emitted electrons 12 flow into the collector 5. That is, a collector current can be suitably controlled in accordance with the voltage change of the gate 4.
  • Fig. 4 is a plan view of the second embodiment of the invention of a functional vacuum microelectronic field-emission device.
  • Fig. 5 shows a cross section taken on line IVb-IVb shown in Fig. 4.
  • a conductive layer 37 made of Mo, Ta, Cr, Al, Au, etc. are formed on the substrate 1 made of glass, or ceramics, etc.
  • the conductive layer 37 has a given shape, for example, a shape such that it extends from a peripheral point toward a center of the substrate 1 to provide electrical connection to the center portion of the substrate 1.
  • An emitter 22 made of a material having a low work function such as Mo, Ta, W, ZrC, LaB 6 , etc. is formed such that the conducting layer 37 provides electrical connection to the emitter 22.
  • a width of at least a portion of the emitter 22 successively decreases linearly substantially, so that a tip 22a is formed sharply. That is, it is formed to have a wedge portion.
  • the emitter 22 has a cross-shape such that four projecting portions extend toward four different directions from its center respectively. A width of each projecting portion successively decreases linearly with distance from the center to tip of each projecting portion, so that each tip 22a is formed sharp.
  • an insulation layer 23 made of SiO 2 , Si 3 N 4 , Al 2 O 3 , Ta 2 O 5 , etc. is formed a given interval apart from the wedge portion of the emitter 2 such that it encloses the emitter 22.
  • An end of the conductive layer 37 at the peripheral portion of the substrate 37 is exposed to function as a lead terminal.
  • a gate 24 made of Mo, Ta, Cr, Al, Au, etc.
  • a portion of the gate 24 extends to another peripheral portion of the substrate in a direction different from that of the conductive layer 37 to have a lead terminal.
  • a collector 25 made of Mo, Ta, Cr, Al, Au, etc. is formed a given interval apart from the gate 24 at circumference of the gate 24 on the opposite side of the gate 24 from said emitter 22.
  • the conductive layer 37 is used as a lead electrode for providing electrical connection to the emitter 22. Electrons 12 are emitted from the tips 22a of the emitter 22.
  • FIG. 7A-7H show cross sections for showing an example of production processing of the functional vacuum microelectronic field-emission device of the second embodiment.
  • the conductive layer 37 made of Mo, Ta, Cr, Al, Au, etc. is formed by the spatter deposition, or the electron beam deposition, etc. on the substrate 1 with its thickness having 200 nanometers to 300 nanometers.
  • a resist 38 is formed on the substrate 1 with its thickness having 200 nanometers to 300 nanometers.
  • etching processing is performed to partially remove the conductive layer 37 using the resist 18 as a mask.
  • an emitter material 39 made of Mo, Ta, Cr, Al, Au, etc. is formed by the spatter deposition, the electron beam deposition, or the CVD, etc. with its thicknesses having 300 nanometers to one micrometers.
  • a resist 40 having a given pattern on the emitter material layer 39 with its thickness of 1-2 micrometers is etched to form the emitter 22 and a lead terminal 41, the emitter 22 having four projecting portions, each of projecting portions having a wedge shape (in Fig. 4, the lead terminal 41 is not provided).
  • the emitter material layer 39 is so processed that its peripheral portion is smaller than the resist 40 by up to 1 micrometer by over-etching the emitter material 39.
  • the insulating layer 23 made of SiO 2 , Si 3 N 4 , Ta 2 O 5 , etc.
  • the conducting layer 42 made of Mo, Ta, Cr, Al, Au, etc. are formed by the spatter deposition, the electron beam deposition, or the CVD, etc. and the resist 20 with their thicknesses having 300 nanometers to one micrometers and 200 to 500 nanometers respectively.
  • the resist 40 is lifted off together with the insulation layer 23 and the conductive layer 42 formed on the resist 40.
  • the resist 23 is formed with a given pattern again as shown in Fig. 4F.
  • the conductive layer 42 is etched using the resist 23 as a mask to remove the resist 21, so that the gate 24 and the collector 25 is formed.
  • Fig. 6 is an enlarged plan view of the functional vacuum microelectronic field-emission device of the second embodiment partially shown.
  • the tip 22a is formed to have a radii r3 of the tip 22a which is equal to or less than 1000 angstroms. This concentrates lines of electric force at the tip 22a.
  • the tip of the projected portion of the gate 24 is formed to have a radii r4 thereof which is equal to or larger than 1 micrometer.
  • control of a current of the collector 5 can be carried out readily in accordance with the voltage change of the gate 24 similar to the above-mentioned first embodiment.
  • Fig. 8 shows a cross section of a functional vacuum microelectronic field-emission device of the third embodiment of the invention.
  • an insulating layer 58 made of SiO 2 , Si 3 N 4 , Ta 2 O 5 , etc. is formed on a conductive substrate 51 made of Mo, Ta, Cr, Al, Au, etc.
  • the insulation layer 58 has a shape such that portions of the conductive substrate 51 are exposed at a conducting portion 57 and at a lead terminal portion 56 provided at the peripheral portion of the conductive substrate 51.
  • an emitter 52 is formed which is similar to that of the above-mentioned second embodiment and is electrically connected to the substrate 1 at the conducting portion. Because structure of the insulation layer 58, gate 54, collector 54, etc. and operation are the same as those of the above-mentioned second embodiment, the description is omitted.
  • application of a voltage between the emitter and the gate and the input of a voltage from the signal input portion causes emitting electrons from the emitter in accordance with the combined voltage.
  • Application of a voltage to the collector can take the emitted electrons so that a voltage at the output terminal of the collector portion can be changed.
  • operation voltage can be decreased and the amount of the emitted electrons can be increased because the material whose work function is low can be used as the emitter. Therefore, an output level of the collector is increased, so that S/N ratio is improved. Further, it can be produced by the deposition technique and a simple lithography technique, so that yield and reliability is improved.
  • Fig. 9 is a plan view of the fourth embodiment of a functional vacuum microelectronic field-emission device of this invention.
  • Fig. 10 shows a cross section taken on line IXb-IXb shown in Fig. 9
  • an emitter 62 is formed on an insulation substrate 1 made of glass, ceramic, etc. (a metallic substrate can be used also).
  • the emitter 62 is made of a material having a low work function such as Mo, Ta, W, ZrC, LaB 6 , etc.
  • a width of at least a portion of the emitter successively changes linearly, so that a tip 62a is formed sharply. That is, it is formed to have an wedge portion.
  • a first insulation layer 63 made of SiO 2 , Si 3 N 4 , Al 2 O 3 , Ta 2 O 5 , etc. is formed a given interval apart from the wedge portion of the emitter 62.
  • a gate 64 made of Mo, Ta, Cr, Al, or Au, etc. is formed a given interval apart from the wedge portion on the outside of the wedge portion of emitter 62.
  • a second insulation layer 67 made of SiO 2 , Si 3 N 4 , Al 2 O 3 , Ta 2 O 5 , etc. is formed on the gate 64.
  • a collector 65 made of SiO 2 , Si 3 N 4 , Al 2 O 3 , Ta 2 O 5 , etc. is formed.
  • the bias power source 7 and the signal input portion 8 are connected between the gate 64 and the emitter 62.
  • the collector power source 9 and the resistor 10 are connected between the emitter 62 and collector 65.
  • the bias power supply 6, the signal input portion 7, the collector power supply 8, and the resistor 9 are connected.
  • a suitable bias voltage is applied between the emitter 62 and gate 64 by the bias power supply 6.
  • a suitable voltage is inputted from the signal input portion 7.
  • the voltage between the emitter 62 and the gate 64 is a combined voltage of the bias voltage and the input signal voltage, so that an electric field whose intensity determined in accordance with the combined voltage.
  • electric fields at respective surfaces of the emitter 62 are determined by geometric position relations between the gate 64 and the respective surfaces of the emitter 62.
  • a current flows through the resistor 9, so that a voltage change can be obtained from the terminal 11. That is, an output can be obtained as a change in the output voltage from the output terminal 11 of the collector 66 in accordance with a voltage change of the signal input portion 7.
  • a material having a low work function is selected as the material of the emitter 2 because anisotropic etching is not carried out. Therefore, the signal output level can be increased and S/N ratio is improved. Therefore, the signal output level can be increased and S/N ratio is improved.
  • FIG. 11A to 11D show cross sections for showing an example of production processing of the functional vacuum microelectronic field-emission device of the fourth embodiment.
  • an emitter material layer 68 made of Mo, Ta, W, ZrC, and LaB 6 , etc. is formed to provide the emitter 62 by the spatter deposition, or the electron beam deposition, etc. on the substrate 1 made of glass, or ceramics, etc. with its thickness having 300 nanometer to 1 micrometer.
  • a resist 69 is formed with its thickness having 1 to 2 micrometers to have a given pattern on the emitter material layer 68 using the photolithography technique.
  • etching processing is performed to the emitter material layer 68 to have the wedge-shaped emitter 62.
  • the emitter 62 is so processed that its peripheral portion is smaller than the resist 69 by up to 1 micrometer by selecting the condition that under-etching occurs.
  • the first insulating layer 63 made of Sio 2 , Si 3 N 4 , Ta 2 O 5 , etc. and a conducting layer made of Mo, Ta, Cr, Al, Au, etc., as the gate 64, a second insulation layer 67 made of the similar material to that mentioned above and a conductive layer made of the similar material to that mentioned above which is to be collector 65 are successively formed by the spatter deposition, the electron beam deposition, or the CVD, etc.
  • the resist 63 is lifted off together with the insulation layer 63, the conductive layer 64, the second insulation layer 67, and the conductive layer 65 formed on the resist 14. Then, the first and second insulation layers 63 and 67 are finally formed into the gate 64 and the collector 65 by side-etching.
  • the emitter 62 has a wedge shape with tip 62a thereof at its right hand as shown in Fig. 9.
  • a voltage of 100 to 300 volts is applied to the collector 65 and a triangle waveform voltage of 0 to 70 volts is applied between the emitter 62 and the gate 64.
  • emission of electrons 12 occurs when the applied voltage is more than 50 V, so that the emitted electrons 12 flow into the collector 65. That is, the collector current can be suitably controlled in accordance with the voltage change of the gate 64.
  • Fig. 12 is a plan view partially showing the functional vacuum microelectronic field-emission device of the fifth embodiment of the invention.
  • the emitter 72 is formed to have a cross-shape such that four projecting portions extend in four different directions from its center respectively. A width of each of projecting portions 72a successively is decreased substantially linearly with distance from the center to a tip 72a of each of projecting portions, so that each tip 72a is formed sharp.
  • the first insulation layer 63 (not shown in Fig. 12, gate 64 (not shown in Fig. 12), the second insulation layer 67 (not shown in Fig. 12), and the collector 75 are formed such that they enclose the emitter 62. Other structure and operation are the same as that of the above-mentioned first embodiment.
  • operation voltage can be decreased and the amount of electron emitted can be increased because the material whose work function is low can be used as the emitter portion. Therefore, an output level of the collector portion is increased, so that S/N ratio is improved. Further, it can be produced by the deposition technique and a simple lithography technique, so that yield and reliability is improved.
  • Fig. 13 is a plan view of the sixth embodiment of the invention of a functional vacuum microelectronic field-emission device of the tenth embodiment of this invention.
  • Fig. 14 shows a cross section taken on line X-X shown in Fig. 13 . Portions with various markings in a plan view correspond to portions marked similarly in the corresponding cross-sectional view throughout the specification.
  • an emitter 152 is formed on an insulation substrate 151 made of glass, ceramic, etc.
  • the emitter 152 is made of a material having a low work function such as Mo, Ta, W, ZrC, LaB 6 , etc.
  • a width (shown in Fig. 21) of at least a portion of the emitter successively changes linearly, so that a tip 152a is formed sharply. That is, it is formed to have an wedge portion.
  • an insulation layer 153 made of SiO 2 , Si 3 N 4 , Al 2 O 3 , Ta 2 O 5 , etc. is formed a given interval apart from the wedge portion of the emitter 152.
  • a gate 154 made of Mo, Ta, Cr, Al, or Au, etc. is formed a given interval apart from the emitter 152 on the outside of the wedge portion of emitter 152.
  • the gate 154 is formed to have a V-shape.
  • a collector made of Mo, Ta, Cr, Al, or Au, etc. is formed a given interval apart from the gate 154 on the outside of the gate 154 from the wedge portion of emitter 152.
  • Numerals 6 and 7 are a bias power source and a signal input portion respectively.
  • Numerals 8 and 9 are a collector power source and a resistor connected between the emitter 2 and collector 155.
  • Numeral 10 and 11 are terminals.
  • Numeral 12 shows electrons emitted from the tip 152a of the emitter 152.
  • the tip 152a is formed to have a radii r5 of the tip 152a which is equal to or less than 1000 angstroms.
  • the tip of the V-shaped gate 154 is formed to have a radii r6 thereof which is equal to or larger than 1 micrometer.
  • the bias power supply 6 and the signal input portion 7 are connected between the emitter 152 and the gate 154.
  • a collector power supply 8 and the resistor 9 are connected between the emitter 152 and the collector 155.
  • This functional vacuum microelectronic field-emission device is placed in a vacuum space.
  • a suitable bias voltage is applied between the emitter 152 and gate 154 by the bias power supply 6.
  • the voltage between the emitter 152 and the gate 154 is a combined voltage of the bias voltage and the input signal voltage, so that an electric field whose intensity determined in accordance with the combined voltage.
  • FIGS. 15A-15G show cross sections for showing an example of production processing of the functional vacuum microelectronic field-emission device of the seventh embodiment.
  • Fig. 15A is a plan view showing a first step on production processing of a function vacuum microelectronic field-emission device of the seventh embodiment of the invention.
  • Fig. 15B shows a cross section taken on line X'-X' shown in Fig. 15A.
  • Figs. 15C-15F show cross sections showing successive processing steps.
  • Fig. 15G is a plan view in a completion step.
  • Numeral 161 is a substrate
  • numeral 167 is a conductive layer
  • numeral 163 is a coat layer
  • numeral 166 is a photoresist
  • numeral 169 is an insulation layer
  • numeral 168 is another conductive layer
  • numeral 162 is an emitter
  • numeral 162a is a tip of emitter 162
  • numeral 164 is a gate
  • numeral 165 is collector.
  • the conductive layer 167 made of Mo, Ta, W, ZrC, and LaB 6 , etc. and the coat material 163 are formed successively with given thickness by deposition, or the spatter deposition, etc. on the substrate 161 made of glass, or ceramics, etc.
  • the photoresist 166 is formed by ordinal photolithography technique such that an width of at least a portion successively changes.
  • a metal or an insulation material can be used as the above-mentioned coating material.
  • the coating material 163 is etched using the photoresist 166 as a mask.
  • the conductive layer 167 is processed using the coating material 143 as a mask by wet-etching or dry-etching, etc.
  • the conductive layer 167 is side-etched to have a form whose size is smaller than the pattern shape of the coating material 163 by a given length.
  • the emitter 167 is processed to have an wedge shape as shown in Fig.
  • the insulation layer 169 made of SiO 2 , Si 3 N 4 , Al 2 O 3 , Ta 2 O 5 , etc. and the conductive layer 168 made of Mo, Ta, Cr, Al, Au, etc., are successively formed on the surface by deposition or the spatter, etc.
  • the coating material 163 is removed and at the same time, the insulation layer and the conductive layer 168 are removed to expose the conductive layer 167.
  • the resultant form is shown in Fig. 15G.
  • the conductive layer 167 having the wedge-shape by etching processing is used as the emitter 162.
  • the conductive layer 168 formed on the insulation layer 169 is used as a gate 164.
  • the conductive layer 167 formed a given interval apart from the emitter 162 is used as the collector 165.
  • reproducibility in production is high and stability of the functional vacuum microelectronic field-emission device can be improved because positioning is not necessary because patterning of the resist is performed only once and the position relation between emitter 162 and gate 164 and collector 165 which largely effects the characteristic of the functional vacuum microelectronic field-emission device can be controlled by side-etching width in etching processing and self-alignment is utilized.
  • reproducibility in production and stability of the functional vacuum microelectronic field-emission device can be improved because the gap between the emitter and gate and gate and collector can be made narrow.
  • the patterning of the resist is performed only once and self-alignment is utilized, so that the functional vacuum microelectronic field-emission device with high reproducibility can be readily obtained.
  • the interval between the emitter and the gate and the interval between the gate and collector are determined by using side-etching width in etching processing, so that there is provided a production method with a very high controllability and the functional vacuum microelectronic field-emission device with stable characteristic.

Landscapes

  • Cold Cathode And The Manufacture (AREA)

Claims (15)

  1. Dispositif micro-électronique à émission de champ sous vide, comprenant :
    un substrat (1),
    une partie émetteur (2) formée sur ledit substrat et comportant au moins une région formant coin qui s'étend parallèlement audit substrat,
    une partie grille (4) supportée par ledit substrat et isolée de ladite partie émetteur du point de vue électrique, et
    une partie collecteur (5) supportée par ledit substrat et isolée de ladite partie émetteur et de ladite partie grille du point de vue électrique,
    caractérisé en ce que :
    ladite partie grille (4) a une forme en V avec des bords parallèles aux bords de ladite région formant coin, et
    ladite partie émetteur et ladite partie grille s'amincissent dans la direction allant de la partie émetteur vers la partie grille et la partie collecteur.
  2. Dispositif selon la revendication 1, comprenant en outre une couche d'isolation (3) formée sur ledit substrat à une première distance prédéterminée dans la direction latérale du substrat par rapport à ladite partie émetteur (2), et dans lequel :
    ladite partie grille (4) est formée sur ladite couche d'isolation à une deuxième distance prédéterminée dans la direction latérale du substrat par rapport à ladite partie émetteur, et
    ladite partie collecteur (5) est formée à une troisième distance prédéterminée dans la direction latérale du substrat par rapport à ladite partie émetteur, sur le côté opposé de ladite partie grille par rapport à ladite partie émetteur, ladite troisième distance prédéterminée étant supérieure à ladite deuxième distance prédéterminée.
  3. Dispositif selon la revendication 1, dans lequel :
    ladite partie collecteur est formée à une première distance prédéterminée dans la direction latérale du substrat par rapport à ladite partie émetteur, et
    ladite partie grille est formée à une deuxième distance prédéterminée dans la direction latérale du substrat par rapport à ladite partie émetteur, ladite première distance prédéterminée étant supérieure ou égale à ladite deuxième distance prédéterminée.
  4. Dispositif selon la revendication 3, dans lequel lesdites première et deuxième distances prédéterminées sont mesurées à partir de la pointe de ladite région formant coin de ladite partie émetteur.
  5. Dispositif selon la revendication 4, comprenant en outre une couche d'isolation formée à une troisième distance prédéterminée de ladite pointe de sorte qu'elle est prise en sandwich entre ladite partie grille (4) et ledit substrat (1).
  6. Dispositif selon la revendication 5, dans lequel ladite couche d'isolation (3) s'étend de telle sorte qu'elle est en outre prise en sandwich entre ladite partie collecteur (5) et ledit substrat (1).
  7. Dispositif selon la revendication 5 ou 6, comprenant en outre une autre couche d'isolation (67) formée sur ladite partie grille (64), et dans lequel ladite partie collecteur (65) est formée de telle sorte que ladite autre couche d'isolation est prise en sandwich entre lesdites parties grille et collecteur.
  8. Dispositif selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 7, dans lequel ledit substrat (1) est un matériau conducteur.
  9. Dispositif selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 7, dans lequel ledit substrat (1) est un matériau isolant.
  10. Dispositif selon l'une quelconque des précédentes revendications, dans lequel ladite partie émetteur (2) est formée de telle sorte que le rayon (r1) de la pointe de ladite région formant coin est égal ou inférieur à 1000 Ansgtröms.
  11. Dispositif selon l'une quelconque des précédentes revendications, dans lequel la pointe de ladite partie grille en forme de V a un rayon (r2) égal ou supérieur à un micromètre.
  12. Dispositif selon l'une quelconque des précédentes revendications, comprenant en outre une couche conductrice (37) couplée du point de vue électrique à ladite partie émetteur (22), et dans lequel ladite partie grille (24) entoure sensiblement ladite partie émetteur et est isolée de ladite partie émetteur du point de vue électrique.
  13. Dispositif selon la revendication 12, dans lequel ladite partie émetteur (22) comporte une pluralité de régions formant coins.
  14. Dispositif selon la revendication 12 ou 13, dans lequel ladite couche conductrice (37) est formée sur ledit substrat selon une forme donnée, et comprenant en outre une couche d'isolation (23) qui recouvre une partie dudit substrat (1) et une partie de ladite couche conductrice (37), ladite couche d'isolation supportant lesdites parties grille (24) et collecteur (25), ladite couche d'isolation (23) et ladite partie émetteur (22) étant formées de manière à laisser dénudée ladite couche conductrice (37) pour lui permettre de servir de borne de conduction.
  15. Dispositif selon la revendication 12 ou 13, dans lequel ledit substrat (51) est lui-même électro-conducteur et forme ladite couche conductrice, ledit dispositif comprenant en outre une couche d'isolation (58) avec une ouverture pour laisser exposée une portion de ladite partie émetteur (52) audit substrat (51).
EP19910311052 1990-11-28 1991-11-28 Dispositif d'émission de champ microélectronique Expired - Lifetime EP0490536B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (8)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP332411/90 1990-11-28
JP332412/90 1990-11-28
JP33241290A JPH04206127A (ja) 1990-11-28 1990-11-28 機能性電子放出素子
JP33241190 1990-11-28
JP61574/91 1991-03-26
JP6157491A JP3156265B2 (ja) 1991-03-26 1991-03-26 機能性電子放出素子の製造方法
JP31049191A JP2601085B2 (ja) 1990-11-28 1991-11-26 機能性電子放出素子およびその製造方法
JP310491/91 1991-11-26

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0490536A1 EP0490536A1 (fr) 1992-06-17
EP0490536B1 true EP0490536B1 (fr) 1998-01-14

Family

ID=27464057

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP19910311052 Expired - Lifetime EP0490536B1 (fr) 1990-11-28 1991-11-28 Dispositif d'émission de champ microélectronique

Country Status (2)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0490536B1 (fr)
DE (1) DE69128702T2 (fr)

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE19609234A1 (de) * 1996-03-09 1997-09-11 Deutsche Telekom Ag Röhrensysteme und Herstellungsverfahren hierzu
CN113345781A (zh) * 2021-05-25 2021-09-03 中国科学院上海微系统与信息技术研究所 一种纳米空气沟道晶体管

Family Cites Families (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB8621600D0 (en) * 1986-09-08 1987-03-18 Gen Electric Co Plc Vacuum devices

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE69128702T2 (de) 1998-04-23
EP0490536A1 (fr) 1992-06-17
DE69128702D1 (de) 1998-02-19

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
EP0535953B1 (fr) Dispositif électronique du type à emission de champ
JP3235172B2 (ja) 電界電子放出装置
US5228877A (en) Field emission devices
EP0495436B1 (fr) Transistor à interférence de phases quantiques
JP2574500B2 (ja) プレーナ型冷陰極の製造方法
US5394006A (en) Narrow gate opening manufacturing of gated fluid emitters
US6323831B1 (en) Electron emitting device and switching circuit using the same
US5780318A (en) Cold electron emitting device and method of manufacturing same
EP0700063A1 (fr) Structure et procédé de fabrication d'un dispositif d'émission de champ
US5543686A (en) Electrostatic focussing means for field emission displays
JPH04137327A (ja) 電界放出素子及びその製造方法
EP0633594B1 (fr) Elément d'émission de champ pourvu d'une cathode avec un rayon petit et procédé de fabrication de cet élément
EP0500133A1 (fr) Elément émetteur d'électrons
US5757138A (en) Linear response field emission device
US5469015A (en) Functional vacuum microelectronic field-emission device
EP0490536B1 (fr) Dispositif d'émission de champ microélectronique
JP3080004B2 (ja) 電界放出型冷陰極およびその製造方法
JPH06196086A (ja) 電界放出陰極及びその形成方法
JP3407289B2 (ja) 電子放出装置およびその駆動方法
JP2601085B2 (ja) 機能性電子放出素子およびその製造方法
US6771011B2 (en) Design structures of and simplified methods for forming field emission microtip electron emitters
JP3156265B2 (ja) 機能性電子放出素子の製造方法
EP0569671A1 (fr) Cathode froide à émission de champ et sa procédé de fabrication
JPH0574327A (ja) 電子放出素子
JP3211572B2 (ja) 電界放射型電子素子およびその製造方法

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PUAI Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012

17P Request for examination filed

Effective date: 19911213

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): DE FR GB

17Q First examination report despatched

Effective date: 19950915

GRAG Despatch of communication of intention to grant

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOS AGRA

GRAG Despatch of communication of intention to grant

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOS AGRA

GRAH Despatch of communication of intention to grant a patent

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOS IGRA

GRAH Despatch of communication of intention to grant a patent

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOS IGRA

GRAA (expected) grant

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009210

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: B1

Designated state(s): DE FR GB

REF Corresponds to:

Ref document number: 69128702

Country of ref document: DE

Date of ref document: 19980219

ET Fr: translation filed
PLBE No opposition filed within time limit

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009261

STAA Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent

Free format text: STATUS: NO OPPOSITION FILED WITHIN TIME LIMIT

26N No opposition filed
REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: GB

Ref legal event code: IF02

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: FR

Payment date: 20041109

Year of fee payment: 14

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: GB

Payment date: 20041124

Year of fee payment: 14

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: DE

Payment date: 20041125

Year of fee payment: 14

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: GB

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20051128

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: DE

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20060601

GBPC Gb: european patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee

Effective date: 20051128

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: FR

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20060731

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: FR

Ref legal event code: ST

Effective date: 20060731