Fabrication and Field Emission of High-Density Silicon Cone Arrays

High-density Si cone arrays with a defined orientation and covering a large area (see Figure) have been fabricated by ion beam sputtering. The density of the Si cones is as high as 6 × 108 cm–2. A silicide tip was found on top of each Si cone. The Si cone arrays have a relatively low turn-on field, which may be useful for applications in electronic vacuum devices.