Vacuum Microelectronics

SEM image of Spindt cold cathode tip

The genesis of SRI's Vacuum Microelectronics Program was the invention 30 years ago of the Spindt cold cathode — an array of microfabricated conductive tips (typically molybdenum), integrated with a base and gate electrode, capable of producing high-current electron beams in vacuum by field emission.

This technology made possible low-power, bright, colorful, thin displays without the viewing angle limitations of liquid crystals. The technology is suitable for laptop and desktop computer displays and normal and high-definition television, as well as applications in which the use of high-temperature electron and ion sources are not preferred.

Directed by the technology's namesake, Dr. Charles "Capp" Spindt, the current research and development areas of the Vacuum Microelectronics Program include high-power microwave sources, pulsed-power devices, cathodes for spacecraft, X-ray tubes, microthrusters for satellites, and compact ion sources.

Selected publications