ELECTRON DEVICES COMPRISING A THIN-FILM ELECTRON EMITTER

摘要

In a flat panel display or other type of electron device, a thin-film electron emitter (51) and/or emitter array (50) is formed in a semiconductor film (10) of, for example, hydrogenated amorphous and/or microcrystalline Si, SiCx, SiNy, SiOxNy or the like. An injector electrode (14) forms a potential barrier (ΖB) with the semiconductor film (10) at a back major surface (12) of the film (10). A front electrode (15) serves for biasing an emission area (11a) of the front major surface (11) at a sufficiently positive potential (V15) with respect to the injector electrode (14) as to inject electrons (e) over the barrier (ΖB) in the operation of the emitter (51) while controlling the magnitude of an electron accumulation layer (Ne) in the semiconductor film (10) at the emission area (11a). Under this bias condition the semiconductor film (10) supports a depletion layer from the injector electrode (14) to the electron accumulation layer (Ne), so establishing a field in which the electrons are heated and directed towards the emission area (11a). The electron emission area is a plane surface area (11a) free of the front electrode (15), to which it may be connected directly or by a gateable connection (G, 29). Some of the electrons from the injector electrode (14) are emitted at the emission area (11a), while others heat electrons in the accumulation layer (Ne) to stimulate their emission. The front electrode (15) extracts excess electrons not emitted from the emission area (11a). The emitter (51) is well suited for fabrication with thin-film silicon-based technology.