Field emission electron source, method of producing the same, and use of the same

Abstract

An array of field emission electron sources and a method of preparing the array which discharges electrons from desired regions of a surface electrode of field emission electron sources. The field emission electron source comprises an electrically conductive substrate of p-type silicon substrate ; n-type regions of stripes of diffusion layers on one of principal surfaces of the p-type silicon substrate, strong electric field drift layers formed on the n-type regions which is made of oxidized porous poly-silicon for drifting electrons injected from the n-type region ; poly-silicon layers between the strong field drift layers ; surface electrodes of the stripes of thin conductive film formed in a manner to cross over the stripes of the strong field drift layer and the poly-silicon layers . By selecting a pair of the n-type regions and the surface electrodes and thereby making electron emitted from the crossing points due to combination of the surface electrode to be electrically applied and the n-type region to be electrically applied, electrons can be discharged from desired regions of the surface electrodes