Amorphous-diamond electron emitter
AssigneeThe Regents of the University of California
InventorSteven Falabella
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Abstract
An electron emitter comprising a textured silicon wafer overcoated with a thin (200 Å) layer of nitrogen-doped, amorphous-diamond (a:D-N), which lowers the field below 20 volts/micrometer have been demonstrated using this emitter compared to uncoated or diamond coated emitters wherein the emission is at fields of nearly 60 volts/micrometer. The silicon/nitrogen-doped, amorphous-diamond (Si/a:D-N) emitter may be produced by overcoating a textured silicon wafer with amorphous-diamond (a:D) in a nitrogen atmosphere using a filtered cathodic-arc system. The enhanced performance of the Si/a:D-N emitter lowers the voltages required to the point where field-emission displays are practical. Thus, this emitter can be used, for example, in flat-panel emission displays (FEDs), and cold-cathode vacuum electronics.
Claims4
in an electron emitter, the improvement comprising:
- a substrate having a textured surface, and
- a layer of doped amorphous-diamond on the substrate,
- said doped amorphous-diamond being doped with a dopant material composed of nitrogen,
- said nitrogrn in said layer of doped amorphous-diamond being in a ratio of 3-10% nitrogen:
- 90-97% amorphous-diamond.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.