摘要 |
A process for fabricating an electron emitting vacuum type device having a tipped electron emitter supported on a substrate and disposed in a vacuum for emitting electrons. The process utilizes a substrate having opposed substantially planar front and rear surfaces. The front surface, carrying a series of conical depressions, is plated with a metallic layer of electron emitting material which lines the apertures to form metallic structures having tips buried in the substrate. A first material removal process, comprising grinding, is performed on the rear of the substrate to remove the bulk of the substrate but leaving the tips protected within the substrate. A second operation comprising a finishing operation is then applied to the rear surface to advance the plane of the rear surface from an as-ground to an as-finished position. The finishing operation employs a wet etching solution, and may employ mechanical friction (free of abrasive particles) to assist the speed of etching and uniformity of the finished surface. The as-finished plane of the surface serves to expose the metallic tips so that they can serve as emitters in a vacuum tube device.
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