Field emitter structure and method of making the same
AssigneeFED Corporation
InventorGary W. Jones
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A vertical field emitter structure and field emission device such as a flat panel display utilizing such structure. Self-aligned gate and emitter fabrication is described, together with virtual column field emitter structures, comprising an emitter or gated emitter with conductive columns connecting the emitter to an underlying resistor or conductor structure formed by chemical or other modification of portions of an underlying layer. The display of the invention utilizes field emission structures with low turn-voltages and high accelerating voltages, thereby permitting high brightness, small pixel size, low manufacturing costs, uniform brightness, and high energy efficiency to be achieved.
Claims40
An emitter tip structure for use in a field emission device, comprising:
- a substrate;
- an emitter tip on the substrate;
- a multi-layer electrode structure peripherally overlying and in alignment with the emitter tip, wherein the multi-layer electrode structure comprises:
- electrode conductive layer;
- and
- at least three successive insulative layers comprising different insulative materials in successively adjacent insulative layers, between said electrode conductive layer and the substrate, wherein said different insulative material in successively adjacent insulative layers comprises respectively different dielectric constant materials in said successively adjacent insulative layers, for providing current leakage control in said emitter tip structure.
An emitter tip structure for use in a field emission device, comprising a vertical column field emitter element disposed on a substrate and overlyingly surrounded by a gate electrode structure including a gate electrode layer and at least three adjacent layers of insulative materials of different dielectric constants under the gate electrode layer, between the gate electrode layer and the field emitter element to reduce surface leakage over dielectric surfaces between the gate electrode layer and the field emitter element.
An emitter tip structure for use in a field emission device, comprising a field emitter element disposed on a substrate and overlyingly surrounded by a gate electrode structure, wherein the gate electrode structure comprises an electrode conductive layer and at least three insulative layers of different dielectric constants are disposed between said electrode conductive layer and the substrate, and wherein the field emitter element comprises a deposited emitter material layer including doped polysilicon deposited by a vapor phase deposition process selected from tile group consisting of sputtering, chemical vapor deposition, and evaporation processes.
An emitter tip structure for use in a field emission device, comprising a field emitter element disposed on a substrate and overlyingly surrounded by a gate electrode structure, said gate electrode structure including at least three adjacent insulative layers of different dielectric constants on the substrate, between the substrate and an electrode conductive layer, wherein the field emitter element comprises a lower columnar pedestal portion having a side wall and an upper extremity, with an emitter tip being disposed on the upper extremity of the lower columnar pedestal portion and with a cathodically protective sacrificial material deposited on the side wall of the lower colunmar pedestal portion.
An emitter tip structure for use in a field emission device, comprising a field emitter element disposed on a substrate and overlyingly surrounded by a gate electrode structure, said gate electrode structure including at least three adjacent insulative layers of different dielectric constants on the substrate, between the substrate and an electrode conductive layer, wherein the field emitter element comprises a mesa-shaped body with a planarized horizontal top surface, and the mesa-shaped main body has a low work function material deposited on the planarized horizontal top surface thereof.
An emitter tip structure for use in a field emission device comprising a field emitter element disposed on a substrate and overlyingly surrounded by a gate electrode structure, wherein the gate electrode structure comprises a gate electrode conductive layer and at least three insulative of different dielectric constants disposed between said gate electrode conductive layer and the field emitter element, and wherein the field emitter element comprises a coated pre-sharpened tip of a low work function material.
An emitter tip structure for use in a field emission device, comprising a field emitter element disposed on a substrate and overlyingly surrounded by a gate electrode structure, said gate electrode structure including at least three adjacent insulative layers of different dielectric constants on the said substrate, between the substrate and an electrode conductive layer, wherein the field emitter element comprises a mesa-shaped main body with a planarized horizontal top surface formed of a low work function material and a side wall surface formed of a high work function material.
An emitter tip structure for use in a field emission device, comprising a substrate having a high resistivity layer thereon, an emitter element on the high resistivity layer, and a gate electrode structure peripherally overlying and in alignment with the emitter tip, said gate electrode structure including at least three adjacent insulative layers of different dielectric constants on the said substrate, between the substrate and an electrode conductive layer.
An emitter tip structure according to 28, wherein the high resistivity layer comprises a cermet material.
An emitter tip structure for use in a field emission device, comprising a field emitter element disposed on a substrate and overlyingly surrounded by a gate electrode structure wherein the field emitter element comprises high work function material laterally adjacent to at least three layers of low work function material, whereby the high work function material surrounding the at least three layers of low work function material provides a focused beam of electrons when the field emitter structure is energized.
An emitter tip structure for use in a field emission device, comprising a field emitter element disposed on a substrate and overlyingly surrounded by a gate electrode structure, the said gate electrode structure having at least three adjacent insulative layers of different dielectric constants disposed on the said substrate between the substrate and an electrode conductive layer, the said field emitter element comprising an emitter tip element formed of a niobium:silicon composition of from 20% silicon:80% niobium to 80% silicon:20% niobium.
A field emitter structure, comprising a low work function material layer deposited on a surface of high work function material, within a cavity on the surface of the high work function material, so that the high work function surface material surrounds the low work function material, at least three layers of differing dielectric materials peripherally overlying and circumscribing the low work function material layer, and a gate electrode structure formed on the dielectric material, whereby the high work function material surrounding the low work function material layer provides a focused beam of electrons when the field emitter structure is energized.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.