On-chip vacuum microtriode using carbon nanotube field emitters

We show a fully integrated, on-chip, vacuum microtriode fabricated via silicon micromachining processes using carbon nanotubes as field emitters. The triode is constructed laterally on a silicon surface using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) design and fabrication principles. The technique incorporates high-performance nanomaterials in a MEMS design with mature solid-state fabrication technology to create miniaturized, on-chip power amplifying vacuum devices, which could have important and far-reaching scientific and technological implications. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.