A vacuum test station has been designed allowing for rapid evaluation of vacuum microelectronic devices. The system consists of a turbo-pumped vacuum chamber reaching a base pressure, at room temperature, of 3*10/sup -9/ torr. Devices which are fabricated on silicon or fused silica substrates are placed on a copper base which is part of a cold finger cryostat. Test temperatures can be varied from 20 to 500 K. Baking of the devices can be accomplished by thin-film heating elements integrated onto the substrates or by heating coils placed inside the chamber. Cleaning of electrode surfaces can be performed via an argon ion gun system and/or by electron bombardment. The performance of the system is demonstrated for a Spindt emitter array.
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