Notes: Field emitter arrays (FEAs) stand to strongly impact device performance when physical size, weight, power consumption, beam current, and/or high pulse repetition frequencies are an issue. FEAs are capable of instant ON/OFF performance, high brightness, high current density, large transconductance to capacitance ratio, and low voltage operation characteristics. Advanced microwave power tubes, and in particular, inductive output amplifiers, are by far the most technically challenging use to date. Other important uses include, e.g., electron sources for micropropulsion systems–Hall thrusters–and tethers for satellites, and (the most widely pursued application) field emission displays. The characteristics of field emitters that make them attractive to such applications shall be surveyed. A thorough analytical model of a field emitter array, beginning with a review of the nature of field emission and continuing with an analytical model of a single emitter and the operation of an array of emitters, shall be presented. In particular, attention shall be directed towards those features of FEAs that render them attractive as cold cathode candidates for electron beam generation. Tip characteristics, such as emission distribution, and array operation, such as space charge effects, will be analyzed in the context of the model. Finally, restricting attention to microwave applications, the performance of a tapered-helix inductive output amplifier to highlight the advantages of high frequency emission gating of the electron beam in a power tube shall be investigated.

Notes: We present a complete analytical treatment of elliptical field emitting structures in a diode geometry which correctly includes image charge effects off axis and the variation of field along the tip. The methodology may be extended to other geometries. The angular distribution of electron emission along the tip, the total emitted current, and the area factor may all be calculated as a function of emitter to anode distance, tip radius, tip height, and the anode-tip voltage difference. We show not only where errors arise if the planar Fowler–Nordheim (FN) equation is used to govern electron emission, but also how the FN equation may be modified to correctly address the complications due to atomically sharp tips. Finally, we present an analytic form of the area factor and compare it to the exact calculation and the various approximations. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: An analytical model of a unit cell and of an array of field emitters with a distribution of tip radii is used to estimate the total current and current characteristics on the basis of geometry and materials. Based on the unit cell modeling, analytical estimates of ring cathode inductance, resistance, and capacitance are made to estimate the drive power required to sinusoidally modulate the array in order to produce a bunched electron beam. For a configuration of parameters indicative of a next generation field emitter array (FEA) ring cathode, the characteristics of the array are used to estimate the gain, efficiency, power output, and optimized length of an emission-gated Twystrode (TWT) using a simple model of the beam-wave interaction. The integrated analytical approach and its numerical implementation ("Cassandra") are validated by comparison to a 1D TWT code (CHRISTINE) which estimates the output power and the optimized length of a TWT. Using "Cassandra," it is shown that with next generation FEA parameters, interesting and significant levels of performance may be anticipated for a compact, broadband rf inductive output amplifier; in particular, an electronic efficiency of 32% with 15 dB gain may be possible from an array producing 260 mA peak and 71 mA average current at 10 GHz modulation using a helix 1.51 cm long.

Notes: Microfabricated field emitter arrays (FEAs) can provide the very high electron current densities required for rf amplifier applications, typically on the order of 100 A/cm2. Determining the dependence of emission current on gate voltage is important for the prediction of emitter performance for device applications. Field emitters use high applied fields to extract current, and therefore, unlike thermionic emitters, the current densities can exceed 103 A/cm2 when averaged over an array. At such high current densities, space charge effects (i.e., the influence of charge between cathode and collector on emission) affect the emission process or initiate conditions which can lead to failure mechanisms for field emitters. A simple model of a field emitter will be used to calculate the one-dimensional space charge effects on the emission characteristics by examining two components: charge between the gate and anode, which leads to Child's law, and charge within the FEA unit cell, which gives rise to a field suppression effect which can exist for a single field emitter. The predictions of the analytical model are compared with recent experimental measurements designed to assess space charge effects and predict the onset of gate current. It is shown that negative convexity on a Fowler–Nordheim plot of Ianode(Vgate) data can be explained in terms of field depression at the emitter tip in addition to reflection of electrons by a virtual cathode created when the anode field is insufficient to extract all of the current; in particular, the effects present within the unit cell constitute a newly described effect.

Notes: A novel self-injector for the administration of subcutaneous sumatriptan in the treatment of migraine attacks was tested in 138 patients recruited by family physicians in Denmark; 108 patients completed the initial double-blind, crossover part of the study. Sumatriptan 6 mg s.c. was significantly better than placebo at 30, 60, 90 and 120 min after injection in relieving moderate or severe headache to mild or none as well as relieving any headache to none. At 60 min after injection, the treatment response rate was 61% for sumatriptan and 6% for placebo. During the following open-phase trial of four attacks treated with sumatriptan, treatment response rates were 68–74%. During the total of 538 attacks treated, 12 attempts at using the self-injector failed. In the double-blind and open phases, 81% and 90% of patients respectively found the device easy or very easy to use. Adverse effects were benign and short-lasting, but led seven patients to discontinue the study. In conclusion, subcutaneous sumatriptan administered with a novel self-injector is an effective treatment for migraine compared to placebo in patients treated by their family physician.

Notes: A new organometallic source, tritertiarybutylaluminum (TTBAl), has been used in growth of AlxGa1−xSb epilayers by low pressure organometallic vapor phase epitaxy. Ternary alloys were grown over the whole composition range 0〈x≤1 on GaSb and GaAs substrates from TTBAl, triethylgallium, and triethylantimony (TESb) or trimethylantimony (TMSb). All layers exhibited mirror surface morphologies. Photoluminescence was observed for layers with x〈0.2, the composition that corresponds to the indirect transition. The background of C and O in AlSb grown with TESb was ∼2×1018 and ∼6×1019 cm−3, respectively, and ∼1.5×1019 and ∼1.5×1019 cm−3, respectively, for AlSb grown with TMSb. All layers exhibited p-type conductivity with hole concentration increasing with x, and saturating ∼5×1018 cm−3 for x=1, which is about 10 times lower compared to layers grown with conventional Al sources. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: n-type doping of AlxGa1−xSb epilayers (0≤x≤1) grown by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy has been achieved by using tritertiarybutylaluminum, triethylgallium, and trimethylantimony as the organometallic precursors and diethyltellurium as the doping source. Electron concentrations exceed 1017 cm−3 for layers with x〈0.3, and decrease to ∼1016 cm−3 for x=1 as a result of higher residual acceptor concentration. Lattice-mismatched double-heterostructure diode lasers with AlGaSb cladding layers and GaSb active layer are demonstrated, and indicate the potential of OMVPE for growth of GaSb-based materials for electronic and optoelectronic devices. © 1996 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: The performance characteristics of rf power amplifiers will be significantly enhanced if a cathode source capable of producing current densities greater than 10 A/cm2 under gigahertz modulation can be created. Characterization of single- and multiple-tip arrays is imperative to determine performance characteristics in order to design and implement inductive output amplifiers (IOA): knowledge of the beam spread is paramount in the design of the helix or cavity power extraction region. Nevertheless, a simple analytic model for gated field emitters for understanding the spatial dispersion of the emitted electrons has not emerged. We provide such a model, approximating the tip by a smooth sphere and the gate by a ring of charge (Saturn model), and correlate it with experimental measurements made on a single Spindt-type molybdenum field emitter using a nanofabricated anode whose position from the emitter was determined using laser interferometry. Methods used to correlate theory with experiment are explained, and the dependence of the beam profile on tip sharpness, gate diameter, anode distance, and tip work function are examined. There is good agreement between theory and experiment. Measurement has shown that the rms spread angle is between 15° and 29°.

Notes: Dark, nonemissive defects form on the metal cathode in most molecular organic and polymer-based light emitting devices and eventually lead to the failure of the device. These defects have been characterized in situ using optical microscopy and ex situ using atomic force microscopy and Auger electron spectroscopy. On the basis of these observations, an electromigration mechanism for the formation of dark spot defects is proposed. The high current density required to operate polymer-based light emitting devices leads to electron-induced diffusion of the Al cathode when a short circuit forms in the emissive polymer layer. This process results in a "pileup'' of metal at the short circuit (anode) and a surrounding circular region where the Al is depleted, appearing as a dark spot on the cathode. © 1996 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Potential barrier profiles for large applied fields and/or high temperature are developed for the study of field and thermionic emission electron sources intended for radio frequency power tube applications. The numerical implementation provides a fast and flexible method to obtain the barriers which govern current density, and yet allows for complications such as nanoprotrusions, adsorbates, "internal" field emission, the sputtering of low work function emission sites, and so on. The model consists of (i) a modified form of the Wigner Lattice expansion of the electron ground state energy to evaluate the exchange and correlation potential, (ii) a simplified form of the ionic core potential to correct the "Jellium" model, (iii) a triangular representation of the barrier with a single adjustable parameter which enables both the solution of Schrödinger's equation in terms of Airy functions and thus an exact evaluation of the electron density near the barrier, and (iv) a numerical integration of Poisson's equation to evaluate the dipole potential and positive background boundary. An iterative calculation is performed such that the barrier used in the solution of Schrödinger's equation becomes equivalent to the barrier predicted from the exchange-correlation and dipole potentials. As a test of the method, evaluations of the work function of various metals are made. A good correspondence is found between the potential profiles and an "analytic" image charge potential (which contains modifications to the standard image charge model). Modifications to the Richardson–Laue–Dushman and Fowler Nordheim equations, so as to obtain current density estimates, are described. The (only) adjustable parameter used to correlate theory and experimental work functions is the magnitude of the ionic core "radius," which is often close to the actual radius of the metal ions in the test cases considered. The temperature and field dependence of the work function, which is dependent upon electron penetration of the barrier and its effect on the dipole potential, are investigated. The method is suggested to be suitable for the analysis of more complex potential barrier profiles that are encountered in actual (realistic) thermionic and field emission electron sources. The limitations of the model are discussed and methods to circumvent them are proposed. © 1999 American Institute of Physics.