9624233 Akinwande The CAREER proposal is in the area of field emission studies on vacuum microelectronic devices. The research is concerned with scaling the operating voltages from 100V to 10V through the use of nanostructure technology to control the gate aperture, gate-to-emitter capacitance and emission beam spreading thpough the addition of a focus electrode. In addition, studies will focus on the reduction of emitter workfunction and surface conditioning to provide current uniformity in the field emission arrays (FEAs). The achievement of lower voltages will permit the integration of vacuum microelectronic devices with silicon-based CMOS or MMIC technologies. Bandgap and surface engineering of semiconductors are explored to study the physical electronics of electron emission. The research will impact the area of flat-panel displays (FPDs) as well as RF sources for microwave power amplifiers. The education plan is to develop courses and a laboratory which emphasizes electronic display technology through the study of material, devices, circuits, optics and fabrication techniques. ***
