Annealing Temperature Effect on Field Emission of Silicon Emitter Arrays with Sol-Gel (Ba0.65Sr0.35)TiO3 Coatings

Ba 0.65 Sr 0.35 TiO 3 (BST) thin films have been fabricated on silicon field emitter arrays (FEAs) using sol-gel coating for electron emission applications. The BST coatings exhibit the perovskite structure when annealed between 650 and 700°C, and an interfacial reaction occurs when annealed above 750°C. The threshold electric field is lowered from 36 V/μ m for bare silicon tips to 19 V/μ m for BST-coated silicon tips. The oxygen vacancy concentration increases for BST thin films annealed from 600 to 750°C, and decreases above 750°C, leading to the Fermi energy shift. The electron emission behavior is correlated to both the microstructure and electronic structure of the BST thin films.