Very high speed integrated microelectronic tubes
First Claim
1. An array of microelectronic tubes comprising a substrate,an array of sharp needle-like cathode electrodes each with at least one tip carried by the substrate,each tube including an anode electrode spaced from the tip of a cathode electrode for receiving electrons emitted by field emission from said cathode electrode,insulating means separating and insulating said cathode electrodes from said anode electrodes, said insulating means including a plurality of through apertures into which the cathode electrodes extend,each tube containing a gas at a pressure of between about 1/100 and 1 atmosphere, andmeans for supplying operating voltages to the tubes whereby the mean free path of electrons travelling in said gas between said cathode and anode electrodes is equal to or greater than the spacing between the tip of the cathode electrode and the associated anode electrode and the maximum energy gained by the electrons is less than the ionization potential of the constituent gas.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An array of microelectronic tubes is shown which includes a plate-like substrate upon which an array of sharp needle-like cathode electrodes is located. Each tube in the array includes an anode electrode spaced from the cathode electrode. The tubes each contain gas at a pressure of between about 1/100 and 1 atmosphere, and the spacing between the tip of the cathode electrodes and anode electrodes is equal to or less than about 0.5 μm. The tubes are operated at voltages such that the mean free path of electrons travelling in the gas between the cathode and anode electrodes is equal to or greater than the spacing between the tip of the cathode electrode and the associated anode electrode. Both diode and triode arrays are shown.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An array of microelectronic tubes comprising a substrate,
an array of sharp needle-like cathode electrodes each with at least one tip carried by the substrate, each tube including an anode electrode spaced from the tip of a cathode electrode for receiving electrons emitted by field emission from said cathode electrode, insulating means separating and insulating said cathode electrodes from said anode electrodes, said insulating means including a plurality of through apertures into which the cathode electrodes extend, each tube containing a gas at a pressure of between about 1/100 and 1 atmosphere, and means for supplying operating voltages to the tubes whereby the mean free path of electrons travelling in said gas between said cathode and anode electrodes is equal to or greater than the spacing between the tip of the cathode electrode and the associated anode electrode and the maximum energy gained by the electrons is less than the ionization potential of the constituent gas.
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10. An array of microelectronic tubes comprising a substrate,
an array of sharp needle-like cathode electrodes each with at least one tip formed on the substrate, each tube including a gate electrode having an aperture therethrough into which aperture the tip of an associated cathode electrode extends, insulating means separating and insulating said cathode electrodes from said gate electrodes, said insulating means including a plurality of through apertures in alignment with apertures in the gate electrodes, each tube including an anode electrode spaced from said gate and cathode electrodes for receiving electrons emitted by field emission from said cathode electrodes, each tube containing gas at a pressure of between about 1/100 and 1 atmosphere, and means for supplying operating voltages to the tubes, whereby the mean free path of electrons travelling in said gas between said cathode and anode electrodes is equal to or greater than the spacing between the tip of the cathode electrode and the associated anode electrode and the maximum energy gained by the electrons is less than the ionization potential of the constituent gas.
Specification