Semiconductor device for electron emission in a vacuum
US9305734B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 20, 2012 |
| Grant date | Apr 5, 2016 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 6, 2032 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01J23/04
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A semiconductor device for electron emission in a vacuum comprises a stack of two or more semi-conductor layers of N and P type according to sequence N/(P)/N forming a juxtaposition of two head-to-tail NP junctions, in materials belonging to the III-N family, two adjacent layers forming an interface. The semiconductor materials of the layers of the stack close to the vacuum, where the electrons reach a high energy, have a band gap Eg>c/2, where c is the electron affinity of the semiconductor material, the P-type semiconductor layer being obtained partially or completely, by doping impurities of acceptor type or by piezoelectric effect to exhibit a negative fixed charge in any interface between the layers, a positive bias potential applied to the stack supplying, to a fraction of electrons circulating in the stack, the energy needed for emission in the vacuum by an emissive zone of an output layer.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.