Microfabricated Thermionic Electron Emitters

<a href="https://embed.stanford.edu/iframe/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpurl.stanford.edu%2Ftx293nf8350" class="su-underline">Show Content</a>

Abstract/Contents

Abstract: Thermionic energy converters (TECs) convert very high temperature to electricity without any moving parts. Specifically, the heat gives rise to electron emission from one electrode (‘emitter’) to a nearby electrode (‘collector’) and the resulting current can drive a load. To produce a useful current, both the temperature and the work functions of the emitter and collector must be sustainably controlled. Previous work established that the gap between the two electrodes should be in the range of 1 - 10 μm to minimize space charge at larger gaps and excessive heat transfer at smaller gaps. The microfabricated thin-film emitter is thermally isolated from the substrate by a poly-SiC suspension. This thesis describes the redesign of the suspended emitter and its fabrication process. The suspended plate is optimized for vertical emission by eliminating the recessed emitter surface in the previous design. Furthermore, the process includes the etching of apertures in the silicon substrate, so that underside of the suspended plate can be heated by laser illumination. The thermal resistance of the emitter suspension beams is increased by 50% in the new designs. The five-mask fabrication process is in progress in the Stanford Nanofabrication Facility.

Type of resource	text
Date created	2014

Author	Huffman, Katherine Blair
Primary advisor	Howe, Roger
Degree granting institution	Stanford University. Department of Electrical Engineering.

Subject	Stanford Nanofabrication Facility
Subject	thermionics
Subject	emitter
Subject	MEMS
Subject	thermionic emission
Subject	µTEC
Subject	energy converter
Genre	Thesis

Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/tx293nf8350

Use and reproduction: User agrees that, where applicable, content will not be used to identify or to otherwise infringe the privacy or confidentiality rights of individuals. Content distributed via the Stanford Digital Repository may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor.
License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).

Preferred Citation: Huffman, K.B. (2014) “Microfabricated Thermionic Electron Emitters,” Undergraduate Honors thesis, Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: http://purl.stanford.edu/tx293nf8350

Undergraduate Theses, School of Engineering

Loading usage metrics...