Fabrication and implementation of nanodiamond lateral field emission diode for logic OR function

This article reports successful fabrication and characterization of vacuum microelectronic OR gate logic using nanodiamond lateral diode structures. Two identical sets of four nanodiamond lateral diodes with different numbers of emitters, viz., 125, 325, 2340 and 9360, and with equal anode–cathode spacing of ~ 3.5-μm were fabricated on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers. First the fabricated lateral emitters were characterized for emission current scaling to examine the scaling effect of different structures with respect to the forward emission current. Then, two identical diodes were connected in a circuit using diode–resister logic to realize the logic OR function with a square wave as an input signal. The current scaling behavior, demonstrating 1 μA current at 18, 15, 7 and 2.2 V for 125-, 325-, 2340- and 9360-fingered emitter structures respectively, directly affects the logic OR response. These nanodiamond vacuum logic gates are promising for application in harsh environments.

► We report fabrication and characterization of vacuum OR gate logic. ► Four sets of diodes with different number of equally spaced emitters were studied. ► Nanodiamond emitters were characterized for emission current scaling. ► Two identical diodes were connected in a diode–resister logic circuit. ► The current scaling behavior directly effects the logic OR response.