Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 March 2011
For enhancement and stabilization of electron emission, Mo and Co silicides were formed from Mo mono-layer and Ti/Co bi-layers on single crystal silicon FEAs, respectively. Using the slope of Fowler-Nordheim curve and tip radius measured from SEM, the effective work function of Mo and Co silicide FEAs are calculated to be 3.13 eV and 2.56 eV, respectively. Compared with silicon field emitters, Mo and Co silicide exhibited 10 and 34 times higher maximum emission current, 10 V and 46 V higher failure voltage, and 6.1 and 4.8 times lower current fluctuation, respectively. Moreover, the emission currents of the silicide FEAs depending on vacuum level are almost same in the range of 10−9 ∼ 10−6 torr. This result shows that silicide is robust in terms of anode current degradation due to the absorption of air molecules.