Improvement of Electron Emission Properties of Volcano-Structured Silicon Emitters by Titanium Nitride Coating

Abstract

We have developed a volcano-structured double-gated field emitter array (FEA). High beam focusing have been achieved by precisely arranged gate electrode, however, high current operation have not been achieved. In this study, we applied TiN coating to volcano-structured Si-FEA, which was formed by reactive sputtering of Ti target and Ar/N2 gases. The TiN coated Si-FEA achieved relatively high current of 4.5 mA/1027 tips and short-term stability of 1 mA for 60 min. Therefore, the TiN coating is promising for high current operation of FEA.