Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Field emitter array
open-in-new
<p>A field emitter array (FEA) is a particular form of <a href="/facts/Field_electron_emission/ReNmucpE">large-area field electron source</a>. FEAs are prepared on a silicon substrate by lithographic techniques similar to those used in the fabrication of integrated circuits. Their structure consists of many individual, similar, small-field electron emitters, usually organized in a regular two-dimensional pattern. FEAs need to be distinguished from "film" or "mat" type large-area sources, where a thin film-like layer of material is deposited onto a substrate, using a uniform deposition process, in the hope or expectation that (as a result of statistical irregularities in the process) this film will contain a sufficiently large number of individual emission sites. </p>