The Effect of Gap Width on Field Emission Properties of Lateral Silicon Diodes

摘要

A simple method for fabricating lateral Si diodes with various gap widths were designed using the special properties of anisotropic TMAH wet etching and local anodic oxidation. The electrical performance of lateral diode was characterized using an HP4156c semiconductor parameter analyzer (SPA300HV, Agilent) at room temperature in a vacuum environment lower than 10~(-8) Torr. The emission current from the silicon emitter cathode was measured as a function of the applied anode voltage. The effect of changing the anode-cathode gap was observed in the I-V characteristics, with a distinct reduction in the device turn-on with a decrease in the gap. For narrowed nano-gaps from 55 nm to 35 nm, the turn-on voltage was decreased from 21 V to 16 V. Values of field enhancement factor β and emitting area A for different gap width were measured using Fowler-Nordheim plot. Our results indicate that β reduces and emitting area increases with increasing of gap width.