Fluctuations of electron beams emitted from single-atom electron sources prepared with different techniques

Abstract

We compared fluctuations of electron beams emitted from single-atom electron sources, on which the surface Pd metals were deposited by two different techniques, vacuum deposition and electroplating deposition. The similar nano-pyramids were fabricated successfully by both the techniques, but the stabilities of the beam currents were different each other; the electron source prepared by vacuum deposition was far superior to those of electroplating deposition. The possible origin was discussed on the basis of AES analysis. © 2008 The Surface Science Society of Japan.