COLD CATHODE FIELD EMISSION ELECTRON SOURCE AND MANUFACTURE THEREOF

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To ensure a uniform emission current by incorporating an FET into an emitter of a cold cathode field emission electron source. SOLUTION: A cold cathode field emission electron source is a junction FET structure with a semiconductor substrate 21 being a source, an emitter 22 being a drain, and a p-type silicon area 23 being a gate. By FET current saturation characteristics, an electron current emitted from an emitter can be restricted. When a voltage is applied between an electron source gate substrate 25, an FET gate electrode 26, and a semiconductor substrate 21, the magnitude of a current to be emitted from the emitter is determined depending upon a balance between the FET I-V characteristics and the emitter I-V characteristics. Thus, a uniform current is obtained without generating dispersion in electron emission due to dispersion in the emitter shape.