Abstract:
A matrix addressed diode flat panel display (820) including a diode pixel structure. The flat panel display includes a cathode assembly having a plurality of cathodes (210-280), each cathode including a plurality of cathode conductive material (440) and a layer of low effective work-function material (460) deposited over the cathode conductive material and an anode assembly having a plurality of anodes (290-292), each anode including a layer of anode conductive material (410) and a cathodoluminescent material (430) deposited over the anode conductive material, the anode assembly located proximate the cathode assembly to thereby receive the charged particle emissions from the cathode assembly. The display further includes means (100) for selectively varying field emissions between the plurality of corresponding light-emitting anodes and field-emission cathodes.
Abstract:
A cathode structure (200, 203, 204) suitable for a flat panel display is provided with coated emitters (229, 239, 230). The emitters are formed with material, typically nickel, capable of growing to a high aspect ration. These emitters are then coated with carbon containing material (240, 241) for improving the chemical robustness and reducing the work function. One coating process is a DC plasma deposition process in which acetylene is pumped through a DC plasma reactor (301, 305, 313, and 315) to create a DC plasma for coating the cathode structure. An alternative coating process is to electrically deposit raw carbon-based material onto the surface of the emitters, and subsequently reduce the raw carbon-based material to the carbon containing material. Work function of coated emitters is typically reduced by about 0.8 to 1.0 eV.
Abstract:
The work function of electron emitters can be modified by forming a modifying layer at the surface using low energy ion implantation, in a controlled environment, placing chosen elements below the surface of electron emitters as Cs implanted in Si(100) at four different doses illustrates. Sometimes implanted species are deep enough that they do not react with the atmosphere during subsequent low-temperature processing. Then, species implanted in the emitting surfaces are segregated using elevated temperature treatment of the emitters in vacuum and/or reactive gases. The implanted ions modify the work function at the surface, via thin layers of the implanted species on top of the emitter surfaces, or compounds or alloy layers at the surface of the emitters. Depending on the implanted species, the initial emitter material, and the environment, these layers can either increase or decease the work function of the emitter.
Abstract:
A field emitter structure, comprising: a base substrate; a field emitter element on the base substrate; a multilayer differentially etched dielectric stack circumscribingly surrounding the field emitter element on the base substrate; and a gate electrode overlying the multilayer differentially etched dielectric stack, and in circumscribing spaced relationship to the field emitter element. Also disclosed are electron source devices, comprising an electron emitter element including a material selected from the group consisting of leaky dielectric materials, and leaky insulator materials, as well as electron source devices, comprising an electron emitter element including an insulator material doped with a tunneling electron emission enhancingly effective amount of a dopant species, and thin film triode devices.
Abstract:
The invention generally relates to the technical field of devices using the effect to emit electrons out of a solid into vacuum due to high electric field strength. Such devices are usually called field emission devices. The invention relates more specifically to the structure of a field emission device, to the method of fabricating a field emission device, and to the use of a multitude of field emission devices in the technical field of flat panel displays. The inventive structure of a field emission device (15) comprises an individual series resistor for each electron emitting tip (1), wherein the series resistor is formed by the tip (1) itself. The tip (1) comprises a body (9) of a first material with high resistivity and an at least partial coating (7) of a second material with low work function, wherein the body (9) of the first material forms the series resistor and the coating (7) of the second material provides for electron emission. The method for fabricating a field emission device (15) uses depositing and sacrificial layer etch back techniques to provide easy and precise control of tip height and shape and also easy and precise control of the tip-to-gate distance and geometry.
Abstract:
A vertical field emitter structure (116) and field emission device such as a flat panel display (123) utilizing such structure. Self-aligned gate and emitter fabrication is described, together with virtual column field emitter structures (321), comprising an emitter or gated emitter (328) with conductive columns connecting the emitter to an underlying resistor or conductor structure (325) formed by chemical or other modification of portions of an underlying layer. The display of the invention utilizes field emission structures with low turn-on voltages and high accelerating voltages, thereby permitting high brightness, small pixel size, low manufacturing costs, uniform brightness, and high energy efficiency to be achieved.
Abstract:
The following method is provided: a method of readily fabricating an electron-emitting device (10), coated with a low-work function material, having good electron-emitting properties with high reproducibility. Differences in electron-emitting properties between electron-emitting devices each fabricated by the method are reduced. Before a structure (3) is coated with the low-work function material, a metal oxide layer (4) is formed on the structure (3).
Abstract:
A stable cold field electron emitter is produced by forming a coating on an emitter base material. The coating protects the emitter from the adsorption of residual gases and from the impact of ions, so that the cold field emitter exhibits short term and long term stability at relatively high pressures and reasonable angular electron emission.
Abstract:
An emission device includes a plurality of electron emitter structures (12) of varied geometry that have a conducting layer (22) deposited thereon. The conducting layer has openings (24) located at tunneling sites (18) for each of the electron emitter structures. The tunneling sites facilitate electron emissions from each of the varied geometry electron emitter structures upon voltage biasing of the conducting layer relative to the electron emitter structures.