Effect of process variation on field emission characteristic in surface conduction electron-emitters

In this work, we explore the effect of process variation on field emission characteristics in surface conduction electron-emitters. The structure of palladium thin-film emitter is fabricated on the substrate and the nanometer scaled gap is formed by the focused ion beam (FIB) technique. Different shapes of nanogaps due to the process variations are investigated by the experiment and 3D Maxwell particle-in-cell simulation. Four deformation structures are examined, and it is found that the Type 1 exhibits high emission efficiency due to a stronger electric field around the apex and larger the emission current among structures. The electron emission current is dependent upon the angle of inclination of surface.