Claims
- 1. In a field emission display, the improvement comprising:
a junction-based field emission structure.
- 2. The improvement of claim 1, wherein said junction-based field emission structure includes a substrate, and a film of SBC deposited on the substrate.
- 3. The improvement of claim 2, wherein said substrate is composed of materials selected from the group consisting of metals and n-type semiconductors.
- 4. The improvement of claim 2, wherein said SBC is composed of silicon, oxygen, and an alkali metal.
- 5. The improvement of claim 4, wherein said alkali metal is selected from the group consisting of Cs, Ba, K, Rd, and Li.
- 6. The improvement of claim 1, wherein said junction-based field emission structure is connected to a power source for producing a forward bias voltage there across.
- 7. The field emission display of claim 1, wherein said junction-based field emission structure is located in a vacuum case and in spaced relation to a positively biased phosphor screen anode plate, and said junction-based field emission structure is operatively connected to a power supply for producing a forward bias voltage there across.
- 8. The field emission display of claim 7 additionally includes a switch for shutting off applied electrical potential across said junction-based field emission structure.
- 9. The improvement of claim 1, wherein said junction-based field emission structure includes an n-Si substrate, a metal contact on one side of said substrate, a plurality of p-Si contacts in a surface of an opposite side of said substrate, and a layer of insulation on said opposite side of said substrate having openings therein which expose said plurality of p-Si contacts.
- 10. A junction-based field emission display, comprising:
a vacuum case, a phosphor screen anode plate positioned in said vacuum case, means for applying a bias voltage on said anode plate, a junction-based field emission structure positioned in said vacuum case and spaced from said anode plate, means for applying a bias voltage across the junction-based field emission structure, and means for cutting off the bias voltage across the junction-based field emission structure.
- 11. The display of claim 10, wherein the bias voltage on said anode plate is positive.
- 12. The display of claim 10, wherein said junction-based field emission structure comprises a substrate and a layer of SBC.
- 13. The display of claim 12, wherein said bias voltage across the junction-based field emission structure is a forward bias voltage, whereby electron transport is from the substrate into the SBC layer, and electrons are released from said layer into said vacuum case and are accelerated toward said phosphor screen anode plate.
- 14. The display of claim 12, wherein said substrate is composed of material selected from the group consisting of metals and n-type semi-conductors.
- 15. The display of claim 12, wherein said layer of SBC is composed of silicon, oxygen, and an alkali metal.
- 16. The display of claim 15, wherein said alkali metal is selected from the group consisting of Cs, Ba, K, Rd, Li, and other alkali metals.
- 17. The display of claim 12, wherein said layer of SBC has a thickness in the range of a few micrometers down to 100 nanometers.
- 18. The display of claim 13, wherein the forward bias voltage is in the range of 0.5 to 5 volts.
- 19. The display of claim 12, wherein the layer of SBC comprises a small band gap, low work function, NEA material.
- 20. The display of claim 19, wherein the bias voltage across the layer of SBC is on the order of half the band gap.
- 21. The display of claim 9, wherein said junction-based field emission structure comprises a substrate, a layer of metal on one side of said substrate and a layer of insulation on the opposite side of said substrate, and a plurality of p-Si contacts in the opposite surface of said substrate.
- 22. The display of claim 21, wherein said substrate is composed of n-Si, wherein said layer of metal is composed of Al, and wherein said layer of insulation is composed of SiO2.
- 23. The display of claim 21, wherein said plurality of p-Si contacts includes a dopant of Group II materials, including In, B, and Ga.
Government Interests
[0001] The United States Government has rights in this invention pursuant to Contract No. W-7405-ENG48 between the United States Department of Energy and the University of California for the operation of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.