Micro field emitter with nano-pillarets formed by reactive ion etching of photoresist

We investigate the feasibility of nano-pillarets prepared by reactive ion etching (RIE) with oxygen gas of a photoresist material for application to a field electron emitter. Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) of the photoresist film before and after the RIE was carried out to investigate the formation mechanism of the nano-pillarets. The results strongly indicated that iron particles deposited on the photoresist surface from the reaction chamber contribute to the nano-pillaret formation. Fabrication of a gated cold cathode using the nano-pillarets as an electron emitter is demonstrated using a self-alignment technique. Field electron characteristics of the nano-pillaret cathode were measured using a triode configuration with a phosphor screen as a collector electrode. It was found that the turn-on voltage of the emitter was 50 V and emission current of the order of 10(-6) A was obtained at the gate voltage of 100 V.