Development and application of field emission devices compatible with integrated circuits technology

• Grant number: 09/53359-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: December 01, 2009
• End date: May 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Electrical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Elisabete Galeazzo
• Grantee: Elisabete Galeazzo
• Host Institution: Escola Politécnica (EP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The aim of the present project is the development of microelectrode arrays, fabricated from monocristalline silicon, for application in field emission devices (FE). These devices are composed by electrodes of integrated and non-integrated configuration in the same substrate, and they can be used in microsystems for gas detection and analysis, which are based on the gas ionization principle by electron impact. The electron emitters, composed by silicon microtips, will be micromachined by means of a technique named HI-PS (Hydrogen Implantation - Porous Silicon), and will be distributed uniformly in an array configuration on the same substrate. The HI-PS technique is a combination of hydrogen ion implantation and Si anodization processes to promote the obtaining of porous silicon at selective regions of substrate. The electron emission efficiency will be characterized by microtips geometry, surface roughness, distance between electrodes (cathode and anode) and the material work function of emitters and coating films deposited over theses structures. The capability of fabricating Si microtips (cathodes that emits electrons by field effect) by means of HI-PS can promote the integration between electrodes (anode and cathode) in the same substrate, and also allows their association with other micromechanical components. Besides it, the proposed technique is compatible with consolidated microelectronic technology, which opens perspectives of integration with electronic circuits in the same substrate. (AU)