US 12,080,505 B1
Multi-material thermionic electron emitters
Arthur Gernt Bond, III, Auburn, AL (US); and Benoit Hamelin, Atlanta, GA (US)
Assigned to EngeniusMicro, LLC, Atlanta, GA (US)
Filed by EngeniusMicro, LLC, Atlanta, GA (US)
Filed on Jan. 4, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/404,139.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/478,419, filed on Jan. 4, 2023.
Int. Cl. H01J 1/16 (2006.01); H01J 1/14 (2006.01)
CPC H01J 1/16 (2013.01) [H01J 1/14 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A thermionic emission device, comprising:
a substrate layer;
an insulating layer deposited onto an uppermost surface of the substrate layer; and
an electron emitting layer deposited onto an uppermost surface of the insulating layer, wherein the electron emitting layer, the insulating layer, and the substrate layer each comprise a first etching and a second etching oriented according to a photoresist pattern applied to an uppermost surface of the electron emitting layer, wherein the first etching and the second etching converge to form a cavity in the substrate layer beneath a beam suspended above the cavity, wherein the beam comprises an unetched region of the electron emitting layer and the insulating layer oriented between the first etching and the second etching.