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电子由阴极射线管发射通常是一种热过程,即热电子发射。对于某些应用也有无需加热的阴极,称为冷阴极。要使电子逸入真空,就要设法供给其能量,例如利用光子来供给能量(光电效应),或利用强的外加电场(场致发射),或利用处于反向偏置p-n结半导体的强的内电场。这最后一例适用于硅冷阴极,那就是本文论题。这种阴极起先似乎不大实用,不过利用现代半导体工艺进一步研究后,性能得到了改进,目前已出现适于实际应用的良好前景。
Electron emission from a cathode ray tube is usually a thermal process, ie, hot electron emission. For some applications there is no need to heat the cathode, known as the cold cathode. To get the electrons into the vacuum, try to supply their energy, for example using photons for energy (photoelectric effect), or using a strong applied electric field (field emission), or using a strong reverse biased pn junction semiconductor Internal electric field. This last example applies to silicon cold cathode, that is the topic of this article. At first, this kind of cathode seems not very practical, but after further research using modern semiconductor technology, the performance has been improved, and good prospects have emerged for practical applications.