Silicidation of field emission tips brings about many improvements in device performance and long term reliability. Here we investigate the merits of titanium silicide coating as compared to other silicides including chromium. The silicidation takes place in two steps, deposition and high temperature alloying technique. Surface morphology was inspected and electrical characteristics were measured and compared with bare-silicon tips. The results show marked improvements in terms of lower turn-on voltage, enhanced emission, reduced current fluctuations, and homogeneous arrays. Moreover, titanium-silicide protected tips were harder, thermally stable, and discharge resistant.
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