Advanced Nanofabrication Techniques for Electron Emission Devices

The goal of this thesis is to develop an electron injection source based on a cold field emission cathode that ultimately functions as an alternative electron source used during the Birch reduction process. The experimental configuration to conduct an alternative Birch reduction involves the combination of various physical domains, including solid-state physics, physics of interfaces, electrochemistry, and fluid dynamics. The body of this thesis discusses the fabrication and characterization of a silicon nanocone array. It also presents a self-aligned method to incorporate an electronic gate structure that may function as an extractor grid. The emission behavior and transport properties of the silicon nanocones are assessed by scanning tunneling microscopy by performing measurements on flat silicon and silicon nanocone surfaces containing different dopant types and doping concentrations. Furthermore, additional experimental work is conducted to replace a thermally grown silicon dioxide layer with platinum silicide and characterize the electrical properties by means of scanning tunneling microscopy. Lastly, the thesis discusses the fabrication of two plasmonic structures and evaluates the plasmonic modes, surface enhancement, and Raman activity.