Abstract:
The present invention discloses a new field emitter cell and array consisting of groups of nanofilaments forming emitter cathodes. Control gates are microprocessed to be integrally formed with groups of nanofilament emitter cathodes on a substrate. Groups of nanofilaments are grown directly on the substrate material. As a result, the control gates and groups of nanofilaments are self-aligned with one another.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a field emitter cell and array, in particular, to an integrally gated, self-aligned field emitter cell and array whose cathode is formed of a recently discovered class of materials of nanotubes and nanowires, collectively referred to as nanofilaments.  
           [0003]    2. Background of the Invention  
           [0004]    Field emitters arrays (FEAs) are naturally small structures which provide reasonably high current densities at low voltages. Typically, FEAs are composed of emitter cells in the form of conical, pyramidal, or cusp-shaped point, edge or wedge-shaped vertical structures. These cells are electrically insulated from a positively charged extraction gate and produce an electron beam that travels through an associated opening in the positively charged gate.  
           [0005]    The typical field emitter structure includes a sharp point at the tip of the vertical structure (field emitter) and opposite an electrode. In order to generate electrons which are not collected at the extraction electrode, but can be manipulated and collected elsewhere, an aperture is created in the extraction electrode. The aperture is larger (e.g., two orders of magnitude) than the radius of curvature for the field emitter.  
           [0006]    Consequently, the extraction electrode is a flat horizontal surface containing an extraction electrode aperture for the field emitter. Such an extraction electrode is referred to as the gate electrode. The field emitter is centered horizontally in the gate aperture and does not touch the gate although the vertical direction of the field emitter is perpendicular to the horizontal plane of the gate. The positive charges on the edge of the extraction electrode aperture surround the field emitter symmetrically so that the electric field produced between the field emitter and the gate causes the electrons to be emitted from the field emitter in a direction such that the electrons are collected on an electrode (anode) that is separate and distinct from the gate. The smaller the aperture, i.e., the closer the gate is to the field emitter, the lower the voltage required to produce field emission of electrons.  
           [0007]    The sharp point at the tip of the field emitter provides for reduction in the voltage necessary to produce field emission of electrons. As a result, numerous micro-manufacturing techniques have been developed to produce various sharp tip designs. Current techniques include wet etching, reactive ion etching (RIE), and a variety of field emitter tip deposition techniques.  
           [0008]    Effective methods generally require the use of lithography which has a number of inherent disadvantages including a high equipment and manufacturing cost. For example, the high degree of spatial registration requires expensive high resolution lithography.  
           [0009]    Additionally, cathode structures include very small localized vacuum electron sources which emit sufficiently high current. However, these vacuum electron sources are difficult to fabricate for practical applications. This is particularly true when the sources are required to operate at reasonably low voltages. Presently available thermionic sources do not emit high current densities, but rather result in small currents being generated from small areas. In addition, thermionic sources must be heated, and thus require special heating circuits and power supplies. Photoemitters have similar problems with regard to low currents and current densities.  
           [0010]    Recent advancements in nanotechnology have resulted in the creation of nanofilaments including nanotubes. One such example is carbon nanotubes. These nanotubes behave like metals or semiconductors and can conduct electricity better than copper, transmit heat better than diamond, and are among some of the strongest materials known while being only a few nanometers in diameter. Nanofilaments can have small diameters, ranging down to only a few nanometers. The nanofilaments may be grown to various lengths (e.g., 100-1000 nm) yet their diameter remains uniform. The aspect ratio (length to diameter) is extremely high.  
           [0011]    Nanofilaments in the form of nanotubes have a hollow edge which is on the order of a couple of Angstroms thick. The nanotubes may be either single, double, or multiple walled (i.e., one nanotube within a second, third or further nanotube). For a more comprehensive discussion on carbon nanotubes, see “Carbon Nanotubes Roll On,”  Physics World , June 2000, pages 29-53.  
           [0012]    Carbon nanotubes have been proposed as excellent candidates for use as field emitter cathodes due to: (1) the extreme sharpness of their edges and the extremely large aspect ratio, which enable the achievement of low operating voltages; (2) the resistance to tip blunting by residual back ion bombardment due to the uniform wall thickness throughout their height; (3) the relative inertness, high mechanical strength and current carrying capacity; and (4) an inherent current-limiting mechanism in the presence of adsorbed water which retards emitter burn out and destruction by arcing, a problem plaguing the present day FEAs. Nanotubes have been demonstrated in use as a cathode in a cathode lighting element in which the carbon-nanotubes act as the field-emitting cathode.  
           [0013]    To be effective emitters, the nanofilaments need to be oriented largely perpendicular to the substrate. Recently, this property has been achieved by growing the nanofilaments on substrates under suitable conditions such as by high temperature chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on catalytic surfaces. For example, CVD has been used to form extremely vertical and uniformly grown carbon nanotubes directly above a metal catalyst substrate of patterned and oxidized iron patches. The resulting nanotubes form an ungated clump electrode which provides a stable field emission over the entire test duration of 20 hours.  
           [0014]    On the other hand, high emission current from carbon nanotubes oriented parallel to the substrate has also been observed, which can be attributed to defects on the tube sidewalls. Nanotubes in this orientation can be expected to erode more quickly than those oriented perpendicular to the substrate by residual back ion bombardment.  
           [0015]    However, these nanofilament electrodes are not gated and thus, have limited practical use as field emitters. In order to use nanofilaments as a field emitter, one must control the operating characteristics of the nanofilaments, i.e., the turning on and off of small selected groups (i.e. clumps) of nanofilament emitters which comprise an array of emitter cells (e.g. pixels). This control is accomplished by providing a gate electrode, whose applied voltage bias controls the turning on, turning off and the field emission current magnitude. In order to enable low voltage operation, it is necessary to provide a control gate in very close proximity to a group of nanofilament emitters.  
           [0016]    One proposed method of forming a gated nanofilament field emitter includes pre-positioning a paste layer of the nanotubes separately on a substrate and assembling a control grid gate assembly to the paste layer of nanofilaments. This and other presently available manufacturing techniques (all non-integral) fail to provide practical (e.g., in terms of functional and economical) gating of nanofilaments, e.g., nanotube, field emitters.  
           [0017]    One clear disadvantage of this method is that the resulting gated unit tends to be large when compared to integrally formed conventional field emitter cells, which limits the resolution. As a result of the increased emitter-grid gate separation, these grid-gated emitters require a much higher gate voltage (hundreds of volts as compared to tens of volts for integrally gated emitters) for their operation.  
           [0018]    An additional disadvantage with presently available carbon nanotube field emitting cathodes is that the grid-type control gates and nanotube cathodes are not self-aligned with one another because the control grid gate is assembled to the nanotubes after a paste layer of nanotubes has already been formed. As a result, the gate current (e.g.: current intercepted by the gate) tens to be very high which can cause overheating. In addition, this approach generally does not provide precise control and operation of the FEA and in particular, precise control of individual cells forming the emitter array, as compared to integrally formed and self-aligned control gate and cathode design.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0019]    In accordance with the present invention, a self-aligned, integrally gated nanofilament field emitter cell and array is provided wherein a nanofilament cathode (in the form of a group or “clump” of nanofilaments) and control gate are formed through the microprocessing techniques of the subject invention, thereby self-aligning the nanofilament cathode with the control gate.  
           [0020]    According to one aspect of the invention, a field emitter cell is provided which comprises an electrically conductive substrate layer. An insulator layer is disposed directly upon the substrate layer and an electrically conductive gate layer is disposed directly on the insulator layer. An aperture on the gate layer extends through the insulator layer to the substrate layer. A catalyst layer is applied to a surface conductively associated with the substrate layer. Electrically conductive nanofilaments are grown on the catalyst layer. The group of nanofilaments are electrically isolated from the gate. When the field emitter cell is operational, the group of nanofilaments act as a cathode.  
           [0021]    In alternate embodiments, the catalyst layer upon which the nanofilaments are grown is applied to top surfaces of various structures which comprise a post structure, a tip structure, and an obelisk structure extending from the substrate surface.  
           [0022]    One advantage of the present invention is that a field emitter cell is provided in which the cathode comprising a group of nanofilament emitters in close proximity to a control gate (electrodes). As a result of this close proximity, in conjunction with the extreme nanofilament tip sharpness, the control gate electrodes use a much lower emitter operating voltage as compared with currently demonstrated nanofilament grid-gate or ungated field emitter designs.  
           [0023]    Yet, another advantage of the present invention is the resistance of the nanofilaments to blunting by residual back ion bombardment because the edge will remain at the same sharpness due to the uniform thickness throughout their heights. Yet, another advantage of the present invention is that the carbon nanotube has a relatively clean and inert surface (i.e. no non-volatile oxides), which enhances higher emission stability. Another advantage is that often these nanofilaments either possess or can be tailored to posses significant resistance which, during emission, will lead to an IR (current times resistance, from the equation V=IR where V=voltage, I=current, and R=resistance) drop in the potential between the gate and the emitter, thereby preventing emitter burn-out by limiting the current. Further, carbon nanotubes, in the presence of adsorbed water, provide an inherent current-limiting mechanism which tends to retard emitter burn-out as disclosed in “Current Saturation Mechanisms In Carbon Nanotube Field Emitters,”  Applied Physics Letters , volume 76, no. 3, Kenneth A. Dean and Babu R. Chalamala, Jan. 17, 2000, herein incorporated by reference.  
           [0024]    It is an object of the present invention to provide a self-aligned integrally gated nanofilament field emitter cell and array.  
           [0025]    It is an another object of the present invention to provide a integrally gated (but not necessarily self-aligned) nanofilament field emitter cell and array.  
           [0026]    It is another object of the present invention to provide a field emitter cell and array in which the gate electrode is placed in very close proximity to a group of nanofilament emitters.  
           [0027]    It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a field emitter cell and array in which the cathode is resistant to blunting and surface contamination.  
           [0028]    It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a field emitter cell and array with a very low turn-on voltage and that has a stable field emission.  
           [0029]    It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a field emitter cell and array that is very economical to manufacture because no precise lithography is required. In fact, when using the method of the present invention, no lithography is required in making the field emitter cell and array if a stamping technology is used to make the masks for the etching of the starting apertures.  
           [0030]    Further features and advantages of the present invention are set forth in, or apparent from, the description of preferred embodiments which follows.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0031]    FIGS.  1 ( a )- 1 ( g ) illustratively depicts the processing steps involved in fabricating a field emitter according to a first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0032]    FIGS.  2 ( a )- 2 ( g ) illustratively depicts the processing steps involved in fabricating a field emitter cell according to a second embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0033]    FIGS.  3 ( a )- 3 ( g ) illustratively depicts the processing steps involved in fabricating a field emitter cell according to a third embodiment of the present invention in which the emitter cathode comprises a group of nanofilaments formed on a post structure;  
         [0034]    FIGS.  4 ( a )- 4 ( i ) illustratively depicts the steps involved in fabricating the field emitter cell according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention in which the emitter cathode comprises a group of nanofilaments formed on a post structure;  
         [0035]    FIGS.  5 ( a )- 5 ( d ) illustratively depicts the processing steps in fabricating a field emitter cell according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention in which the emitter cathode is formed as a group of nanofilaments on a conical tip or a tip-on-post emitter structure;  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 5( e ) is a plot of the resulting field emission data of the fifth embodiment; and  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 6( a ) illustratively depicts a sixth embodiment of a field emitter using a group of nanofilaments as the emitter cathode with an offset control gate according to the present invention, and  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 6( b ) is a plot of the field emission data of the sixth embodiment. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
     1 st  Embodiment  
       [0039]    Referring now to FIGS.  1  ( a )- 1 ( g ), illustratively depicted therein are the steps of fabricating a field emitter cell  100  according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The field emitter cell  100  is formed on a conductive or semiconductive substrate layer  102 . Optimally, substrate layer  102  is a porous silicon substrate with a nanoporous layer in order to provide for highly directional nanotube growth.  
         [0040]    A catalyst layer  104  is deposited on substrate layer  102  by sputtering or evaporative deposition of a suitable catalyst material. The catalyst layer promotes the growth of nanofilaments of interest under appropriate growth conditions (described below). For carbon nanotube growth, the most effective catalyst layer may comprise iron, nickel or cobalt.  
         [0041]    Optionally, at this point, the catalyst-coated substrate may be annealed in air to anneal and oxidize the catalyst layer  104 . Alternatively, the annealing/oxidation of catalyst layer  104  may be done later or it may be left unoxidized. Insulator layer  106 , composed of SiO 2  or other suitable insulator material, is deposited to a few thousand Angstroms thick.  
         [0042]    Gate layer  108  is then deposited on insulator layer  106 . Gate layer  108  is composed of either a semiconducting material, a metal, or a multiple layer conductive material that does not catalyze nanofilament growth. For example, the material of gate layer  108  may comprise two layers including a chromium layer on a p-type polysilicon layer deposited over the insulator layer  106 .  
         [0043]    Gate aperture  110  is formed by patterning and etching using any of a number of techniques known in the art such as the one described in the commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,084,245, herein incorporated by reference. For example, circular posts of resist (not shown) are patterned and fabricated on the gate layer  108  followed by evaporation deposition of a thin chromium layer and then lift-off of the resist post to leave patterned circular apertures in the chromium layer (not shown). Using the chromium layer as an etch mask, standard reactive ion etching (RIE) is used to anisotropically etch aperture  110  through gate layer  108  and insulator layer  106 , terminating on the catalyst layer  104 .  
         [0044]    Referring now to FIG. 1( b ), preferably a CVD method is used to deposit a conformal, stand-off layer  112  on the horizontal surfaces  109  of gate layer  108  and along the vertical sides of gate layer  108  and insulator layer  106  and the horizontal surface of catalyst layer  104  exposed during the etching of aperture  110 . The thickness of stand-off layer  112  is adjusted to reduce the diameter of aperture  110 . Referring now to FIG. 1( c ), standard anisotropic RIE of the stand-off layer is carried out to remove the stand-off layer  112  disposed on the horizontal surface  109  of gate layer  108 . In addition, RIE removes stand-off layer  112  deposited at the bottom of aperture  110 , thereby exposing catalyst layer  104 .  
         [0045]    If catalyst layer  104  was not previously annealed and oxidized prior to stand-off layer  112  deposition, cell  100  is optionally annealed in air at a temperature to substantially oxidize the exposed catalyst layer  104  as previously described.  
         [0046]    Referring now to FIG. 1( d ), nanofilaments are grown on top of the exposed catalyst layer  104  disposed at the bottom of gate aperture  110 . Nanofilaments  114  are grown, preferably, perpendicular to and in selective areas over the catalyst surface  104  using growth conditions known in the art, such as those described in connection with the method discussed in  Science , Vol. 283, 512 (1999) by S. Fan et al., herein incorporated by reference.  
         [0047]    Nanofilaments  114 , composed of carbon nanotubes, initiate growth on the iron/iron oxide particles that form catalyst layer  104 . Optimally, the nanofilaments  114  are grown to the level of gate layer  108  or slightly below, although they may also be at a higher level than the gate layer  108 .  
         [0048]    Nanofilaments  114 , composed of carbon nanotubes, should be grown under conditions that do not form non-nanofilament carbonaceous material on surfaces that do not contain a catalyst. For example, a low hydrocarbon-to-reducing gas ratio should be used in a CVD method.  
         [0049]    If needed, cleaning/clearing debris from the top surfaces of field emitter cell  100  such as horizontal surfaces  109  and the horizontal surface  113  of stand-off layer  112 , may be accomplished by first filling gate aperture  110  with a protective layer such as a resist or silicon dioxide, followed by perpendicular RIE using oxygen to remove any carbonaceous layer and to etch away the top surface until the residual debris layer is removed.  
         [0050]    Referring now to FIG. 1( e ), field emitter cell  100  is optionally dipped in a buffered hydrofluoric (HF) solution to remove the upper portion of stand-off layer  112 . The hydrofluoric acid removes a portion of the stand-off layer  112  along with cutting into (i.e., removing) a portion of insulator layer  106  adjacent nanofilament clump electrode  116  in areas  118 . The hydrofluoric acid is removed by gentle rinsing or weak sonication in distilled water.  
         [0051]    Optimally, residual water in the cells is removed through a process of freeze-drying. During the freeze-drying, residual water is removed by sublimation. The freeze-drying minimizes the sticking of the individual nanofilaments  114  to the sidewall(s) of the aperture after a wet treatment. An alternative method of drying is by critical point drying, a technique commonly used to preserve mechanical integrity of biological specimen, in which the water is first replaced with a solvent which is then replaced with a liquefied gas (e.g., carbon dioxide). Minimum distortion occurs upon vaporization of the liquefied gas.  
         [0052]    A portion of unanchored or weakly anchored nanofilaments  114  may be dislodged during the hydrofluoric acid and water rinse. Mechanical and electrical anchoring of the remaining attached nanofilaments to the FEA  100 , can be enhanced by electroplating with nickel at the base where the nanofilaments  114  meet catalyst layer  104 .  
         [0053]    Referring now to FIG. 1( f ), if nickel plating is desired, a sufficiently long hydrofluoric acid dip/rinse is first conducted to remove stand-off layer  112  from within aperture  110 , thereby exposing catalyst layer  104 . Subsequently, nickel  120  is plated up from the freshly exposed portions of the catalytic layer  104  at the bottom of aperture  110 .  
         [0054]    An alternative to the afore-mentioned HF treatment to remove the top portion of the stand-off layer  112  is by dry etching such as reactive ion etching, thereby avoiding the problem of stiction which would cause the nanofilaments to stick to the sidewalls of the aperture after a wet treatment.  
         [0055]    Referring now to FIG. 1( g ), along with FIGS.  1 ( e ) and  1 ( f ), the resulting field emitter  100  has a gate layer  108  with a circular gate aperture  110 . Clump electrode  116  forms the emitter portion consisting of a group of nanofilaments  114  with circular symmetry centered within gate aperture  110 . Vacuum gap  122  is disposed between the top portion of clump cathode  116 , insulator layer  106 , and the edge of the gate aperture  110 , electrically isolating the nanofilament emitters from the gate. Electrical contact is established between the clump cathode  116 , substrate  102 , and any layers there between.  
         [0056]    Operation of field emitter cell  100  involves the application of a positive voltage bias to the gate layer  108  relative to the clump cathode  116  to extract field emission of electrons from the clump cathode  116 . Electrons may be collected on an anode (not shown) placed at a distance above the field emitter array device  100 .  
         [0057]    Many modifications may be made to this first embodiment to accommodate various manufacturing processes and operating conditions. For example, although nanofilaments  114  are composed of carbon nanotubes, alternate nanofilaments may be nanowires composed of Si, Ge, SiC, GaAs, GaP, InAs, InP, ZnS, ZnSe, CdS, CdSe, MoS 2 , WS 2 , and combinations thereof grown under appropriate growth conditions known in the art.  
         [0058]    In addition, although clump cathode  116  is formed as a circular group of nanofilaments  114 , other geometrical shape may be substituted, such as but not limited to, linear, square, and rectangular (not shown) by making appropriately modifications to the method described above. As is obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, the placement and shape of the starting template structures (e.g. aperture) on the substrate determines the location and shape of resulting emitter cathodes, cells, and array.  
       2nd Embodiment  
       [0059]    FIGS.  2 ( a )- 2 ( g ) there is illustratively depicted a second embodiment which differs from the first embodiment in that in the second embodiment, catalyst layer  204  is deposited after gate layer  208  and stand-off layer  212  is deposited and etched. Therefore, the various processing steps of the second embodiment are the same as in the first embodiment unless otherwise noted.  
         [0060]    Insulator layer  206  is deposited directly on substrate layer  202  by any suitable manner known in the art. Subsequently, gate layer  208  is formed on insulator layer  206 , and gate aperture  210  is patterned and etched. Stand-off layer  212  is deposited along the surface of cell structure  200  which includes along the gate layer horizontal surface  209 , the vertical wall surfaces within gate aperture  210  and along surface  203  of substrate  202  exposed during the etching of gate aperture  210  (FIG. 2( b )). Next, stand-off layer  212  is removed from the horizontal surfaces of cell structure  200 , namely gate layer horizontal surface  209  and substrate surface  203 , using an anisotropic RIE (FIG. 2( c )).  
         [0061]    Catalyst layer  204  is directionally deposited along surface  203 , and along the horizontal surface  209  of gate layer  208 . In addition, some catalyst material may be residually deposited along the vertical wall surfaces within gate aperture  210  (FIG. 2( d )). Catalyst layer  204  may be composed of the same material as in the first embodiment. Optimally, the material of gate layer  208  passivates the material of catalyst layer—that is, under the nanofilament growth conditions, the catalyst layer on such a gate material no longer catalyze growth of nanofilaments. However, it is not necessary for the material of gate layer  208  to passivate the catalyst in this 2 nd  embodiment.  
         [0062]    Catalyst material deposited on gate layer  208  and the top portion of the vertical side wall of stand-off layer  212  is removed while leaving catalyst layer  204  intact at the bottom of gate aperture  210  on substrate surface  203 . Two methods may be used to accomplish this. The catalyst layer  204  at the bottom of gate aperture  210  is protected by first spinning a resist layer  224  over the field emitter  200  (FIG. 2( d )). Next, isotropic etching with oxygen plasma or anisotropic oxygen RIE removes most of the resist layer  224  except for a portion on top of catalyst layer  204  at the bottom of gate aperture  210 . Subsequently, acid dissolution removes catalyst layer  204  from all surfaces not protected by resist  224  (FIG. 2( e )).  
         [0063]    Alternatively, rather than depositing resist layer  224  followed by isotropic etching using oxygen plasma, catalyst layer  204  may be selectively removed from all surfaces except from the bottom of aperture  210  by glancing angle sputtering.  
         [0064]    Nanofilaments  214  are grown (FIG. 2( f ) and field emitter  200  is then dipped in hydrofluoric acid, rinsed in water, and freeze-dried (FIG. 2( g )). The hydrofluoric acid rinse removes the upper (i.e., top) portion of stand-off layer  212  and undercuts insulator layer  206  in area  218 . As with the first embodiment, the base of clump cathode  216  between nanofilaments  214  and the side-wall of aperture  210  may be optionally reinforced as described above. Alternatively, the upper portion of standoff layer  212  can be removed by dry etching, which least disturbs the nanofilaments.  
       3rd Embodiment  
       [0065]    Referring now to FIGS.  3 ( a )- 3 ( g ), in a third embodiment, the starting substrate upon which the nanofilaments are grown is a post structure  330 . Referring now specifically to FIG. 3( a ), post  330  is formed by patterning and reactive ion etching (RIE) a starting material of nanoporous silicon layer substrate  302  with catalyst layer  304 . The patterning and RIE are standard microelectronic fabrication methods known in the art. Catalyst layer  304  is optionally oxidized in the same manner as in the earlier described embodiments.  
         [0066]    Nanofilaments  314  are preferably carbon nanotubes that are grown on top of post  330  under the same conditions as in the previous embodiments, resulting in clump cathode  316  (FIG. 3( b )). A conformal stand-off layer  312  composed of silicon nitride, silicon dioxide or tungsten, is deposited over the entire cell structure  300  structure (FIG. 3( c )).  
         [0067]    Referring now to FIG. 3( d ), planarization layer  332  is deposited over cell structure  300  along the top of stand-off layer  312 . Planarization layer  332  is composed of a suitable insulator material such as silicon dioxide or spin-on glass of a different insulator material than that of stand-off layer  312 . Standard planarization techniques such as chemical-mechanical-polishing (CMP) is performed on planarization layer  332  (FIG. 3( d )).  
         [0068]    Selective directional RIE is used to etch back planarization layer  332  to a desired height  334  below the top of stand-off layer  312  without etching the stand-off layer  312  (FIG. 3( e )). The desired height  334  determines the placement of the control gate relative to clump cathode  316 .  
         [0069]    Referring now to FIG. 3( f ), gate metalization material is directionally evaporated on top of planarization layer  332  to form gate layer  308 , and on the horizontal surface of stand-off layer  312  to form metalization cap  338 . Care should be taken such that gate metalization material is not deposited on the vertical portions  313  of stand-off layer  312 . If necessary, a short etch may be used to remove any material inadvertently deposited on the vertical portions  313  of stand-off layer  312 .  
         [0070]    Wet etch (such as by HF) or isotropic dry etch is carried out to remove the top portion  336  of stand-off layer  312 . The wet etch or isotropic dry etch also removes metalization cap  338  as well as removing a portion of stand-off layer  312  below metalization cap  338 , recessing stand-off layer  312  sufficiently below the top of clump cathode  316  (FIG. 3( g )). If a wet etch is used, freeze-drying is used to remove the residual liquid.  
       4th Embodiment  
       [0071]    Referring now generally to FIGS.  4 ( a )- 4 ( i ), a fourth embodiment is shown which represents a modification of the processing method of the third embodiment. In the fourth embodiment, a catalyst layer  404  is deposited on post  430  after gate layer  408  is formed.  
         [0072]    Referring specifically now to FIG. 4( a ), post  430  is formed in a similar manner as post  330  with the exception that the starting structure is a post structure  430  on top of substrate  402  without a catalyst layer formed thereon. A silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ) standoff layer  412  is thermally grown (in case if the post and substrate are made of silicon) or deposited over cell structure  400  including the horizontal surfaces  403  of substrate  402  and horizontal and vertical surfaces of post  430  (FIG. 4( b )). Subsequently, planarization layer  432 , composed of SiO 2 , gate layer  408  and metalization cap  438  are formed as in the third embodiment (FIG. 4 ( c )). A wet etch in buffered HF or isotropic dry etch removes the metalization cap  438 , the top portion of the stand-off layer and undercuts planarization layer  432  in areas  418  (FIG. 4( d ).  
         [0073]    A thin, conform CVD silicon dioxide forms sacrificial layer  440  (FIG. 4( e )) over all surfaces of the cell. Next, directional RIE is used to remove sacrificial layer  440  from the top of post  430  and the top of gate layer  408  while leaving the vertical sides of post  430  covered with the CVD silicon oxide sacrificial layer  440  (FIG. 4( f )).  
         [0074]    Referring now to FIG. 4( g ), catalyst layer  404 , such as nickel (Ni) which is relatively resistant to reaction with HF is directionally deposited by sputtering or evaporation on the top surfaces of cell structure  400  which include on top of post  430  and gate layer  408 , as well as residually in gate aperture  410  along conformal sacrificial oxide layer  440 . Optimally, under nanotube growth conditions, the material of gate layer  408  should alloy with the material of catalyst layer  404 , or in the alternative, material of gate layer  408  should passivate the material of catalyst  404 , thereby preventing nanofilament growth on gate layer  408 . For example, the gate material may be chromium (Cr) which passivates Ni.  
         [0075]    The field emitter  400  is briefly dipped in a dilute buffered HF solution to remove (i.e., lift off) any catalyst material which may lie on top of the sacrificial silicon dioxide layer  440  in gate aperture  410  (FIG. 4( h )). The hydrofluoric acid removes both the unwanted catalyst present in aperture  410  as well as CVD silicon dioxide sacrificial layer  440  present in aperture  410  along the vertical wall surfaces of post  430  and along planarization layer  432  and gate layer  408 . A significant amount of catalyst should remain on the top surface of the post  430 .  
         [0076]    Nanofilaments  414 , preferably carbon nanotubes, are grown on top of post  430  under similar conditions as set forth in the previous embodiments, resulting in clump cathode  416  (see FIG. 4( i )).  
         [0077]    One advantage of the fourth embodiment is that the nanofilament  414  placement can be above gate layer  408 . Consequently, there is less of a chance that there will be a short between nanofilaments  114  and gate layer  408 .  
       5th Embodiment  
       [0078]    FIGS.  5 ( a )- 5 ( d ), depicted a fifth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, nanofilament growth occurs on the top surface of a conventional tip-on post emitter ( 530 ) or conical tip emitter ( 531 ) known in the art. This embodiment differs from the fourth embodiment in that instead of using the blunt post structure of post  430 , this embodiment uses ready-made conventional field emitter structures of sharpened tip-on-post structure or a conical tip structure upon which nanofilaments are grown. Otherwise, the processing steps of this embodiment are identical to that of the fourth embodiment.  
         [0079]    The formation of nanofilaments along the top of tip-on post  530  and conical tip  531  occurs in the same manner as in the fourth embodiment. Specifically, a conformal silicon oxide sacrificial layer is first deposited over field emitter cells  500 ,  501 , and then selectively removed by directional RIE from the top surfaces of the tip-on-post  530 , or conical tip  531 , in a manner similar to that in the fourth embodiment. Optimally, the gate aperture  511  of the conical tip design is small as practicable and should be smaller than the diameter of the base of the conical cathode  531 .  
         [0080]    Next, a catalyst is deposited, the sample treated with hydrofluoric acid, rinsed in water, and nanofilaments are grown along the top surface of tip-on-post  530 , and conical tip  531  (FIGS.  5 ( c ) and  5 ( d )), in similar manner as in the fourth embodiment. As a result, clump cathode  516  is formed of nanofilaments  514  protruding outward from the surface of the centers (i.e., upper portions) of tip-on post  530  (FIG. 5( c )) and conical tip  531  (FIG. 5( d )).  
         [0081]    The lengths of the nanofilament  514  should be limited so that the nanofilaments are relatively short and do not come into contact with other parts of the emitter (for example, the gate layer  508  or insulator  532 ). Preferably, the lengths of the nanofilaments should be a small fraction of the distance between the top of the original (tip-on-post or conical tip) to the edge of the gate aperture  510  and  511 . Optimally, although not essential, tip-on post  530  and conical tip  531  should be of a material that does not passivate the catalyst material  504 .  
         [0082]    If the emitter tip material passivates the catalyst, the tip should be coated with a material that prevents diffusion of the catalyst material into the tip material under nanofilament growth conditions. As with the previous embodiments, it is preferable that the material of gate layer  508  does passivate the catalyst material so that no nanofilaments will grow on the gate layer  508 .  
         [0083]    If the gate material does not passivate the catalyst material, it is necessary to remove the catalyst material from the top surface and the edge of the gate. Sputtering at a glancing angle (small angle relative to the surface of the substrate) with an ion beam is one such way of removing the catalyst material. Care should be taken that the angle is such that no portion of the tip-on-post or conical tip is sputtered.  
         [0084]    To remove catalyst material from any silicon dioxide surface (for example, on the top surface or oxide insulator surface  532  or along the shank portion of conical portion tip-on post  530 ), the structure may be dipped in a buffered HF solution. However, the duration should be sufficiently short such that a significant amount of catalyst  504  still remains on the surfaces of the top portions of structures  530  and  531 .  
         [0085]    Optimally, nanofilaments  514  are grown on the portion of tip on-post  530  and conical tip  531  covered with catalyst layer  504  using CVD method under lean hydrocarbon conditions (i.e., low hydrocarbon-to-reducing gas ratio) to eliminate growth of non-nanofilament carbonaceous material on insulator layer  532 . The growth time should be limited so that nanofilaments  514  should be relatively short.  
         [0086]    If necessary, a short isotropic oxygen plasma, such as in a barrel etcher, can be used to remove any thin layer of carbonatious material from insulator layer  532 . If the insulator layer  532  is silicon dioxide, it can be optionally followed by a short dip in dilute buffered HF and subsequent water rinsed to ensure cleanliness of the surface of insulator  532 .  
         [0087]    Precautions should be taken to prevent any nanofilaments  504  from lying down on the tip surface due to adhesion (stiction) after exposure to an aqueous environment of HF and water rinse. As with the previous embodiments, it is optimal to use a freeze-drying or a critical-point drying technique.  
         [0088]    An exemplary preferred implementation of the processing method of the fifth embodiment will now be considered. It will be understood that this example is provided to enhance understanding of the present invention and not to limit the scope or adaptability thereof.  
         [0089]    The starting structures were an array of the silicon tip-on-post gated field emitter cells fabricated according to a process developed at the Microelectronic Center of North Carolina by a number of standard silicon microprocessing steps (outlined in FIG. 3 in D. Temple, et. al., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 13, 150 (1995) and in FIG. 2 in L. N. Yadon, et. al., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 13, 580 (1995)). The silicon tip-on-post emitter cell structure is schematically shown in FIG. 5( a ) of the present disclosure.  
         [0090]    The silicon post height was about 4 microns, the post diameter was about 1 micron, and the post was topped with a very small and sharp conical silicon tip. The gate aperture diameter was 2.8 microns and the gate material was made of pure chromium, which apparently could survive the relatively high temperatures and conditions used for carbon nanotube (cNT) growth in the current example. Moreover, chromium, under the cNT growth conditions used in this example, has been observed to passivate Fe and Ni catalysts (e.g. no cNT growth on Fe and Ni-coated chromium surfaces). Since the sidewalls of the tip-on-post structure had some silicon dioxide left on it from processing, it was optional to omit the initial deposition of a conformal sacrificial silicon dioxide layer. In this example, the initial conformal silicon dioxide sacrificial layer had been omitted.  
         [0091]    Next, a very thin layer of nickel catalyst was sputter-deposited on the substrate using an ion beam and a nickel foil as sputtering target. The nickel coated the surfaces of the chromium gate, the top surface of the tip-on-post (including the small silicon tip), and likely residually other surfaces in the emitter cell cavity. The sample was then briefly dipped in a dilute buffered HF solution and thoroughly rinsed (by weak ultrasonication) in distilled water. The HF removed much (by lift-off) much of the residual nickel that happened to be on any silicon dioxide surfaces in the emitter cell cavity. After drying by blowing with nitrogen and mild heating on a hot plate, the sample was placed on the flat top of a molybdenum cartridge heater in a hot filament chemical vapor deposition (CVD) flow reactor, in which the hot filament consisted of a tungsten ribbon suspended parallel to and about a centimeter above the sample. The cartridge heater and the tungsten filament were heated separately. The temperature was measured by a thermocouple in contact with the top surface of the cartridge heater. The gas flow was perpendicular to the surface of the sample.  
         [0092]    Growth of the carbon nanotube emitters began by first heating the sample in flowing argon at a pressure of about 20 torr until a temperature of about 700° C. was reached, at which ammonia gas at a flow rate of 80 sccm replaced the argon and flowed onto the sample. The hot filament was immediately turned on and maintained at a filament temperature of about 1900° C. as monitored by an optical pyrometer. Five minutes after turning on the hot filament, ethylene gas at a flow speed of 20 sccm was admitted into the flow reactor. The final temperature and pressure were maintained at 683° C. and 23.3 torr, respectively. The hot filament, the ethylene gas, and ammonia gas were shut off 4.5 minutes after the admission of the ethylene gas. Argon at about 25 torr was then flowed as the sample was cooled down slowly.  
         [0093]    Scanning electron microscope examination showed carbon nanotubes on the top surface of the tip-on post cathode structure and no carbon nanotubes on the chromium gate.  
         [0094]    The sample was subjected to field emission test in an ultra-high vacuum chamber equipped with electrically conductive cathode, gate, and anode probes to provide electrical contact to the individual pixels (arrays) of the field emitter and to measure the current of the field-emitted electrons. For a pixel consisting of 33,000 emitter cells, the collected emission current (anode current) was measured as a function of the voltage applied to the gate electrode (with the cathode at ground). The results are shown in FIG. 5( e ).  
         [0095]    An important result is the low turn on voltage (e.g. ˜17 volts) compared to about 80 volts obtained for an array of silicon tip-on post FEA (without the nanotubes). The result for the latter sample is consistent with the 80-90 volts required by the silicon tip-on post structures in references by D. Temple, et. al., and L. N. Yadon, et. al. (above mentioned). This low turn-on voltage for the present nanotube-decorated example can be attributed to the carbon nanotubes acting as field emitters.  
         [0096]    There can be a wide latitude on the growth parameters, such as different catalysts (e.g. Fe, Co), temperatures (500-1000° C.), hydrocarbons (e.g. methane, acetylene), reducing agents (hydrogen), flow rates, pressures, and even a variety of growth techniques including thermal, microwave, and RF CVD methods as well as arc and laser-assisted catalytic growth methods. In a CVD method, a low hydrocarbon-to-reducing agent ratio is necessary to minimize amorphous carbon deposition on catalyst-free surfaces, to avoid electrically shorting out the emitter cell (between cathode and gate).  
       6th Embodiment  
       [0097]    In a sixth embodiment, the control gate is formed as offset gate aperture  609  in which the gate aperture is offset by distance  650  from the edge of the aperture  611  in insulator layer  606  (see FIG. 6( a ). The offset of a gate aperture from that of the insulator layer has previously been described in patent application Ser. No. 09/478,899 filed on Jan. 7, 2000, herein incorporated by reference.  
         [0098]    The sixth embodiment is based on the second embodiment. All processing steps are the same as those in the second embodiment except that the starting cell structure has an off-set gate aperture. A similar offset of gate aperture  609  from the insulator aperture  611  formed therebelow may also be incorporated into the other embodiments. Likewise, other embodiments of gate offset in patent application Ser. No. 09/478,899 are also incorporated into the present embodiment and other embodiments of the present invention as applicable. One possible advantage of having an offset gate layer is to reduce the gate current by precluding a direct-line-of sight from the nanofilament emitter to the gate.  
         [0099]    An exemplary preferred implementation of the processing method of the sixth embodiment will now be considered. It should be understood that this example is provided to enhance understanding of the present invention and not to limit the scope or adaptability thereof.  
         [0100]    The starting structure was similar to that shown in FIG. 2( a ), except that the gate was offset (having a larger diameter than that of the hole in the insulator layer). The methods for fabricating starting structures with offset gates were also given in a commonly-owned patent application (patent application Ser. No. 09/478,899). The gate material consisted of a 60 nm thick chromium layer on top of a 150 nm thick p-type silicon layer. The hole in the insulator layer had a diameter of 1.2 microns and the gate diameter was 2.25 microns (e.g. the offset was about 0.5 micron). A stand-off CVD silicon dioxide layer (nominally 0.42 micron thick on top flat surface) was then deposited over the structure, followed by oxide etch back by RIE of 0.45 micron of silicon dioxide. SEM analysis showed a 0.32 micron thick stand-off layer on the vertical sidewall of the hole, leaving an open, inner hole of about 570 nm diameter.  
         [0101]    A thin layer of Fe was then deposited over the sample using an ion beam and a Fe foil as sputtering target. Next, a 0.25 micron thick Shipley 1400 photoresist was spin-coated over the sample, followed by baking at 90° C. for 30 minutes. Oxygen plasma using a barrel etcher was used to remove the resist from the top horizontal surface and from the upper portion of the hole. The exposed Fe was removed by dipping the sample in an acid solution. After rinsing in water and drying, the sample was ultrasonicated in acetone, followed by ethanol to remove the resist from the bottom portion of the hole, thereby exposing the Fe catalyst on the bottom portion of the hole.  
         [0102]    The growth of the carbon nanotube emitters was carried out under similar conditions as described above in reference to the exemplary implementation of the fifth embodiment, except a DC voltage bias was placed on the hot filament with respect to the top surface of the cartridge heater and that a growth duration of only 40 seconds was used. The purpose of the voltage bias was to promote more oriented growth of the carbon nanotubes.  
         [0103]    Field emission test was carried out on a small pixel of an array of 20 emitter cells. The anode current and the gate current were measured simultaneously as a function of the voltage applied to the gate electrode. The results are shown in FIG. 6( b ). A turn-on voltage below 35 volt was observed. FIG. 6( b ) also shows that the gate current is a very small fraction of the anode current, a result expected from an offset gate design. An offset gate can also be expected to require a higher turn-on voltage than one without an offset.  
         [0104]    Alternative photoresist etching could be done by oxygen reactive ion etching (which is anisotropic) instead of by the oxygen barrel etcher (which is isotropic), thereby gaining better control over the portion of resist to be removed.  
         [0105]    Although the invention has been described above in relation to preferred embodiments thereof, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that variations and modifications can be effected in these preferred embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.