Patent ID: 6844664

Claim:
A field emission-type electron source comprising: an electrically conductive substrate; a strong field drift layer formed on said electrically conductive substrate; and a surface electrode formed on said strong field drift layer, in which said strong field drift layer has a number of semiconductor nanocrystals of nano-meter order formed partly in a semiconductor layer configuring said strong field drift layer, and a number of insulating films, each of which is formed on a surface of each of said semiconductor nanocrystals and has a thickness smaller than a crystalline particle size of each of said semiconductor nanocrystals, wherein a voltage can be applied between said surface electrode and said electrically conductive substrate so that said surface electrode becomes higher in potential, whereby electrons injected from said electrically conductive substrate into said strong field drift layer drift in said strong field drift layer, and are emitted through said surface electrode, and each of said insulating films formed on each of the surface of each of said semiconductor nanocrystals has such a thickness that an electron tunneling phenomenon occurs.