Field emission characteristics from n/sup +/ polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) field emitters fabricated on an insulating layer are presented and compared with those from single crystal silicon field emitters. SEM micrographs of fabricated poly-Si emitters showed poor uniformity in structure due to the oxide thickness deviation associated with grain boundaries of poly-Si in sharpening oxidation step. The anode current of 0.1 /spl mu/A/tip was measured at the gate bias of 82 V from 625 poly-Si tips with gate hole diameter of 1.2 /spl mu/m and 80 V from 625 single crystal Si tips with diameter of 1.6 /spl mu/m, respectively.

Poly-Si field emitters show poor uniformity in structure due to oxide thickness deviation, but show better field emission characteristics than single crystal silicon emitters.

Fabrication and characterization of gated n/sup +/ polycrystalline silicon field emitter arrays