Simultaneous conduction band and valence band electron field emissions from n-type and p-type silicon field emitter arrays

We report field emission of electrons from both n-type and p-type silicon field emitter arrays. A two-band field emission model is proposed to explain the observed current voltage characteristics. Three emission regions were observed on the Fowler-Nordheim plots of all devices: conduction band emission at low gate voltages, conduction band emission with current saturation at medium voltages, and simultaneous conduction and valence band emissions at high gate voltages. Experimental data agree with the two-band field emission model.