USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

Other

Henry F Gray

David S Hsu

Richard F Greene

Jonathan L Shaw

David S Y Hsu

Jianping P Yang

Banhalli R Ratna

Francis J Kub

Karl D Hobart

Syed B Qadri

Mark E Twigg

Phillip E Thompson

Ronald R Price

Jeffrey M Pond

Kevin Jensen

Irving Kaufman

George J Campisi

A field emitter cell includes a thin film edge emitter normal to a gate layer. The field emitter is a multilayer structure including a low work function material sandwiched between two protective layers. The field emitter may be fabricated from a composite starting structure including a conductive substrate layer, an insulation layer, a standoff layer and a gate layer, with a perforation extending from the gate layer into the substrate layer. The emitter material is conformally deposited by chemical beam deposition along the sidewalls of the perforation. Alternatively, the starting material may be a conductive substrate having a protrusion thereon. The emitter layer, standoff layer, insulation layer, and gate layer are sequentially deposited, and the unwanted portions of each are preferentially removed to provide the desired structure.

Field emitter cell and array with vertical thin-film-edge emitter

Nanocrystalline phosphors are formed within a bicontinuous cubic phase.

Nanoparticle phosphors manufactured using the bicontinuous cubic phase process

A field emitter cell includes a thin-film-edge emitter normal to the gate layer. The field emitter cell may include a conductive substrate layer, an insulator layer having a perforation, a gate layer having a perforation, an emitter layer, and other optional layers. The perforation in the gate layer is larger and concentrically offset with respect to the perforation in the insulating layer and may be of a tapered construction. Alternatively, the perforation in the gate layer may be coincident with, or larger or smaller than, the perforation in the insulating layer, provided that the gate layer is shielded from the emitter from a direct line-of-sight by a nonconducting standoff layer. Optionally, the thin-film-edge emitter may include incorporated nanofilaments. The field emitter cell has low gate current, making it useful for various applications such as field emitter displays, high voltage power switching, microwave, RF amplification and other applications that require high emission currents.

Low gate current field emitter cell and array with vertical thin-film-edge emitter

A thin-film edge field emitter device includes a substrate having a first portion and having a protuberance extending from the first portion, the protuberance defining at least one side-wall, the side-wall constituting a second portion. An emitter layer is disposed on the substrate including the second portion, the emitter layer being selected from the group consisting of semiconductors and conductors and is a thin-film including a portion extending beyond the second portion and defining an exposed emitter edge. A pair of supportive layers is disposed on opposite sides of the emitter layer, the pair of supportive layers each being selected from the group consisting of semiconductors and conductors and each having a higher work function than the emitter layer.

Thin-film edge field emitter device

An electron emitting device characterized by a monocrystalline substrate, a plurality of monocrystalline nanomesas or pillars disposed on the substrate in a spaced relationship and extending generally normally therefrom, monocrystalline self-assembled tips disposed on top of the nanomesas, and essentially atomically sharp apexes on the tips for field emitting electrons. A method for making the emitters is characterized by forming a gate electrode and gate electrode apertures before forming the tips on the nanomesas.

Automatically sharp field emission cathodes

Method of forming field emitter cell and array with vertical thin-film-edge emitter

An electron emitting device characterized by a monocrystalline substrate, a plurality of monocrystalline nanomesas or pillars disposed on the subste in a spaced relationship and extending generally normally therefrom, monocrystalline self-assembled tips disposed on top of the nanomesas, and essentially atomically sharp apexes on the tips for field emitting electrons. A method for making the emitters is characterized by forming a gate electrode and gate electrode apertures before forming the tips on the nanomesas.

Atomically sharp field emission cathodes

Nanocrystalline phosphors are formed within a bicontinuous cubic phase. The phosphors are doped with an optimum concentration, of manganese, for example, corresponding to about one or less dopant ions per phosphor particle.

Nanoparticle phosphors manufactured using the bicontinuous cubic phase

A non-power generating current limiting device such as a field effect transistor is provided to output a regulated current in dependence upon a control voltage. An electron field emitter is connected to a drain or output of the non-power generating current limiting device to receive the regulated current. A tip of the electron field emitter emits electrons towards a collector anode. An extractor gate can be provided between the electron field emitter and the collector anode to control the rate of electron emission from the electron field emitter. Because the non-power generating current limiting device regulates the current to the electron field emitter, a maximum current output of the electron field emitter is limited to the regulated current from the voltage controlled current source. The electron field emitter is thus protected from destruction due to excess current. The non-power generating current limiting device can also be used to modulate electron emission from the field emitter.

Method of production of fet regulatable field emitter device

Phosphors having a doped core are surrounded by a shell material. Additionally, these nanocrystalline phosphors, or larger phosphors formed by conventional or other processes may be surrounded by a shell that prevents or significantly reduces non-radiative recombination at the surface of the original phosphor.

Phosphors having a semiconductor host surrounded by a shell

A field emitter is disclosed comprising a graded electron affinity surface ayer. The graded electron affinity layer provides for increased transconductance, reduced energy distribution of emitted electrons, reduced noise and increased uniformity in its operation.

Graded electron affinity semiconductor field emitter

A thin-film edge field emitter device includes a substrate having a first rtion and having a protuberance extending from the first portion, the protuberance defining at least one side-wall, the side-wall constituting a second portion. An emitter layer is disposed on the substrate including the second portion, the emitter layer being selected from the group consisting of semiconductors and conductors and is a thin-film including a portion extending beyond the second portion and defining an exposed emitter edge. A pair of supportive layers is disposed on opposite sides of the emitter layer, the pair of supportive layers each being selected from the group consisting of semiconductors and conductors and each having a higher work function than the emitter layer.

Thin-film edge field emitter device and method of manufacture therefor

Structures having a controlled three-dimensional geometry are deposited by lectrostatically focused deposition using charged particle beam and gaseous precursors, or polarizable precursors with or without a charged particle beam. At least one apertured electrode is electrically biased with respect to the substrate surface. The resulting electrostatic field and field gradient focuses the charged particle beam or polarizable gaseous precursor molecules, and controls the three-dimensional geometry of the deposited structure. By this method, an array including many deposited structures may be simultaneously deposited on a single substrate. Thus, the disclosed method provides a fact and simple way of fabricating one or more arrays of three-dimensional structures. The method is particularly useful in the fabrication of arrays of sharp-tipped, cone-shaped conductive structures, such as field emitter tips and contacts.

Growing community of inventors

Alexandria, VA, United States of America

Henry F Gray