Emitter and method of making
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorsAlexander Govyadinov, Michael J. Regan
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Abstract
An emitter includes an electron source and a cathode. The cathode has an emissive surface. The emitter further includes a continuous anisotropic conductivity layer disposed between the electron source and the emissive surface of the cathode. The anisotropic conductivity layer has an anisotropic sheet resistivity profile and provides for substantially uniform emissions over the emissive surface of the emitter.
Claims60
An emitter, comprising:
- an electron source;
- a cathode having an emissive surface;
- and
- a continuous anisotropic conductivity layer disposed between the electron source and the emissive surface of the cathode wherein the anisotropic conductivity layer has an anisotropic sheet resistance profile.
An emitter, comprising:
- an electron source;
- a cathode for emitting electrons received from the electron source;
- and
- means for regulating the flow of electrons from the electron source to the cathode wherein the emission of electrons from the cathode is substantially uniform over its emitting surface wherein the means is continuous over the surface of the electron source.
An emitter, comprising:
- a substrate;
- an insulating layer disposed on the substrate and defining an opening for an electron source from the substrate;
- an anisotropic conductivity layer disposed continuously on the insulating layer and the electron source, said anisotropic conductivity layer having an anisotropic sheet resistivity profile;
- an emission layer disposed on the anisotropic conductivity layer;
- and
- a cathode layer disposed on the emission layer.
An electronic device, comprising:
- at least one emitter to generate an electron beam from a cathode layer, the emitter having an electron source, an array of emission sites, and a continuous anisotropic conductivity layer disposed between the electron source and the cathode layer wherein the emission of the electron beam is substantially uniform over the cathode layer from each of the emission sites;
- an electron lens for focusing the electron beam to create a focused beam;
- and
- a target medium in close proximity to the at least one emitter, the target medium having a target area being in one of a plurality of states to represent the information represented in that target area;
- such that:
- an effect is generated when the focused beam strikes the target area;
- the magnitude of the effect depends on the state of the target area;
- and the information represented in the target area is determined by the magnitude of the effect.
An emitter, comprising:
- a substrate;
- an insulator layer formed on the substrate and having a first opening defined within;
- a continuous anisotropic conductivity layer having an anisotropic sheet conductivity profile disposed over the insulator layer and first opening and contacting the substrate;
- a tunneling layer formed on the anisotropic conductivity layer;
- and
- a cathode layer disposed on the tunneling layer wherein a portion of the cathode layer on the tunneling layer is an electron-emitting surface.
A method of creating an emitter, comprising the steps of:
- applying a continuous anisotropic conductivity layer having an anisotropic conductivity profile onto the electron source;
- and
- creating an emission source on the anisotropic conductivity layer.
A method of controlling an array of emission sites, comprising the steps of:
- regulating the flow of electrons from an electron source to the array of emission sites wherein the rate of emissions from each emission site is substantially uniform and wherein the conductivity from the electron source to each emission site is about 2 to about 10 times greater than the conductivity between each of emission sites to each other.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.