Improvement of the voltage-controlled negative resistance of a porous silicon emitter using cathode reduction and electro-pretreatment

A new composite treatment method combining cathode reduction (CR) and electropretreatment (EP) is proposed to improve the voltage-controlled negative resistance (VCNR) of porous silicon (PS) emitters. Four groups of PS emitters were treated, with nothing, CR, EP, and a combination of CR and EP, during different preparation stages. The experimental results indicate that both CR and EP improved the VCNR property and the emission characteristics of the PS emitter. The most favorable results occurred for the electron emitter treated with a combination of CR-EP. A peak-to-valley current ratio of 1.06 and an emission current density of 150 mu A cm(-2), which are the lowest value and approximately twice that of other samples, respectively, were obtained. In addition, the operating stability of the PS emitter also improved significantly compared with the two methods alone. Scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry results demonstrate that the improvements of the VCNR and the emission characteristics of PS emitters are due to the content variation of defects, impurities, and unstable microstructures in the PS layer under the influence of CR and EP. The mechanism of VCNR behavior is explained by a proposed energy band model, which is consistent with the experimental results.