The authors describe the design, fabrication and testing of lateral field emission diodes utilizing the deep reactive ion etch (DRIE). Devices were fabricated on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers of varied thickness, by etching the device silicon in the STS DRIE system in a single mask process. After subsequent oxidation sharpening and oxide removal, diodes were tested on a probing station under vacuum. A typical diode exhibited very high currents on the order of /spl sim/100 /spl mu/A at 60 V, and turn-on voltage between 35 V and 40 V. The high electron current is emitted in such a diode by multiple sharp tips vertically spaced by 450 nm along the etched sidewall due to the pulsed nature of the DRIE process.
展开▼
