High-Quality and Stable Electron Emission Device With Sub-30-nm Aligned Nanogap Arrays

A high-quality and stable electron device of aligned gold nanogap arrays is demonstrated by using a well-controlled method with electron beam lithography and focused ion beam. Sub-30-nm nanogap arrays could be precisely fabricated with reproducibility. Field emission (FE) properties of the nanogaps are directly measured in the vacuum chamber of scanning electron microscopy with a nanomanipulator. Experimental investigation and calculations are carried out to reveal the transition process from the leakage current to the FE. Importantly, the controllable method could allow us to readily construct varying nanospacings. Besides, we also illustrate the independence of emission current on the vacuum degree over a large range, widening the applied range of the devices. These studies clearly demonstrate that electronic devices with sub-30-nm vacuum channel can be readily achieved by coupling varying nanogaps into nanostructures. It may pave the way for exploring the physics in tunneling transport devices, and therefore enable a new generation of high-performance, high-speed and low-cost electronic devices.