Photo-enhanced field emission properties of p-doped black Si arrays

We have carried out systematic investigations of p-type black Si field emitter arrays under laser illumination. As expected the current-voltage characteristic revealed a strong saturation providing a high photosensitivity, which had a maximum on-off ratio of 43 at a maximum current of 13 μA. The saturation current was stable in the dark as well as under illumination with fluctuations <;0.7%. Results from time-resolved measurements of the photo-sensitivity showed a rather fast response but a long decay time. Electron spectra in the dark and under laser illumination revealed the origin of the emission.