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Electronics
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Vacuum Electronics: From Micro to Nano
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Vacuum Electronics: From Micro to Nano

A special issue of Electronics (ISSN 2079-9292). This special issue belongs to the section "Microelectronics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 514

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Xianlong Wei

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Electronics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Interests: electron emission; vacuum electronic micro/nanodevice; on-chip electron source
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Jinjun Feng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Vacuum Electronics, Beijing Vacuum Electronics Research Institute, Beijing 100016, China
Interests: millimeter wave vacuum devices; space TWTs; THz electronics; vacuum microelectronics; gyrotrons
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Juncong She

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Electronics and Information Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
Interests: field electron emission; Si field emission array; electron beam lithography
Prof. Dr. Cunjun Ruan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
Interests: millimeter wave/terahertz radiation source and amplifier; micro/nano integrated vacuum electronic devices and systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue, entitled “Vacuum Electronics: From Micro to Nano”, aims to present the latest progress made in vacuum electronics, vacuum electron devices, and related micro-systems using advanced micro-fabrication technology, including semiconductor processing and MEMS such as Nano-CNC, LIGA, UV-LIGA, DRIE, micro-plating, etc. The related components, parts, materials, structure, devices, and microsystems include nano-gap devices, field emission cathodes, nano-material thermionic cathodes, electron gun, waveguides, slow wave structure, RF windows, carbon-based material, power devices, switchers, quantum frequency-standard devices, atomic clock, nano-material for high thermal conductivity and high RF absorption, nano-particle magnets, chip-scale devices, high-frequency THz devices, and related micro-modules and micro-systems.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome to be submitted. Research areas may include, but are not limited to, the following:

  1. Vacuum electronics, vacuum electron devices, and related micro-systems using advanced micro-fabrication technology, including semiconductor processing and MEMS such as Nano-CNC, LIGA, UV-LIGA, DRIE, micro-plating, etc.
  2. The related components, parts, materials, structures, devices, and microsystems include nano-gap devices, field emission cathodes, nano-material thermionic cathodes, electron gun, waveguides, slow wave structure, RF windows, carbon-based materials, power devices, switchers, quantum frequency-standard devices, atomic clock, nano-materials for high thermal conductivity and high RF absorption, nano-particle magnets, chip-scale devices, high-frequency THz devices, and related micro-module and micro-systems.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Xianlong Wei
Prof. Dr. Jinjun Feng
Prof. Dr. Juncong She
Prof. Dr. Cunjun Ruan
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Electronics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • vacuum micro/nano-electronics
  • field emission
  • on-chip electron emission
  • THz vacuum devices
  • nano-gap devices
  • carbon-based material
  • nano-particle material
  • micro-fabrication
  • microsystem

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 7970 KiB  
Article
Investigation of a 220 GHz Traveling-Wave Tube Based upon a Flat-Roofed Sine Waveguide with a Coupling Structure
by Shuanzhu Fang, Ruixiang Xie, Jun Luo, Zhizhe Wang, Tieyang Wang and Fangfang Song
Electronics 2025, 14(9), 1756; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics14091756 - 25 Apr 2025
Abstract
This paper presents the design and investigation of a two-stage flat-roofed sine waveguide (SWG) traveling-wave tube (TWT) incorporating a novel coupling structure. Initially, the slow-wave structure (SWS) of a 220 GHz flat-roofed SWG was optimized, and the output performance of the corresponding TWT [...] Read more.
This paper presents the design and investigation of a two-stage flat-roofed sine waveguide (SWG) traveling-wave tube (TWT) incorporating a novel coupling structure. Initially, the slow-wave structure (SWS) of a 220 GHz flat-roofed SWG was optimized, and the output performance of the corresponding TWT was thoroughly analyzed. Subsequently, a specialized coupling structure was designed and fabricated, with the experimental results demonstrating an excellent agreement with the simulation predictions. The coupling structure exhibits low reflection and is easily manufacturable, making it highly suitable for energy coupling in two-stage TWTs. Finally, a two-stage TWT, integrating both the optimized flat-roofed SWG structure and the coupling structure, was developed and characterized. Under operating conditions of a 20.8 kV beam voltage, 150 mA current, and 150 mW input power, the proposed TWT achieved remarkable performance metrics: a maximum output power of 160 W within the frequency range 210–230 GHz and a 3 dB bandwidth exceeding 20 GHz. This research provides a valuable reference solution for the realization of high-power, broadband terahertz radiation sources, contributing significantly to the advancement of terahertz vacuum electronic devices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vacuum Electronics: From Micro to Nano)
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11 pages, 1677 KiB  
Article
A Novel Darlington Structure Power Switch Using a Vacuum Field Emission Transistor
by Yulong Ding, Yanlin Ke, Juncong She, Yu Zhang and Shaozhi Deng
Electronics 2025, 14(9), 1737; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics14091737 - 24 Apr 2025
Abstract
This study proposes a power switch combining a vacuum field emission transistor (VFET) as a controlled transistor with a power bipolar Darlington transistor (DT) as an output transistor, termed the VFET–DT structure. Compared to the MOS–bipolar Darlington power switch, the VFET–DT structure achieves [...] Read more.
This study proposes a power switch combining a vacuum field emission transistor (VFET) as a controlled transistor with a power bipolar Darlington transistor (DT) as an output transistor, termed the VFET–DT structure. Compared to the MOS–bipolar Darlington power switch, the VFET–DT structure achieves an extremely low off-state leakage current and high-voltage withstanding capability due to the field emission mechanism of the VFET. It can also avoid the Miller effect that results from incorporating the load resistance into the feedback loop. The high gain and high-power capacity can be achieved due to the cascade of DT. The device’s typical electrical characteristics were theoretically investigated by simulation. The VFET–DT structure exhibited a high-power capacity of 20 A and 400 V with a minimum conduction voltage drop of 1.316 V and a switching frequency of 100 kHz. The results demonstrated that the combination of a vacuum transistor and a solid-state transistor combines the advantages of both and benefits the performance of the power switch. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vacuum Electronics: From Micro to Nano)
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12 pages, 4320 KiB  
Article
Two-Dimensional Fin-Shaped Carbon Nanotube Field Emission Structure with High Current Density Capability
by Xiaoyu Qin, Yulong Ding, Jun Jiang, Junzhong Liang, Yanlin Ke, Juncong She, Yu Zhang and Shaozhi Deng
Electronics 2025, 14(7), 1268; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics14071268 - 24 Mar 2025
Viewed by 198
Abstract
A vacuum electron device requires a high-performance electron source that provides high current and current density. A carbon nanotube (CNT) field emission cold cathode is the optimal choice. To achieve its higher emission current capacity, its macroscale and microscale structures should be combined. [...] Read more.
A vacuum electron device requires a high-performance electron source that provides high current and current density. A carbon nanotube (CNT) field emission cold cathode is the optimal choice. To achieve its higher emission current capacity, its macroscale and microscale structures should be combined. Here, a two-dimensional fin-shaped CNT field emission structure is proposed, integrating a macroscale CNT fin with billions of nanoscale nanotubes. The fin contributes two-dimensional heat dissipation paths, and the nanotubes provide a high field enhancement factor, both of which enhance the high-current field emission characteristics. A model combining macro- and microstructures was simulated to optimize the structure and fin-shaped array parameters. The calculation of the field enhancement factor of the compound structure is proposed. It was also determined that the fin-shaped array configuration can be densely arranged without field screen effects, thereby enhancing the emission area efficiency. The fin-shaped CNT emitter and array emitters with different parameters were fabricated by laser ablation, which demonstrated superior field emission characteristics. A 16.55 mA pulsing emission current, 1103.33 A/cm2 current density, and 6.13% current fluctuation were achieved in a single fin-shaped CNT emitter. An 87.29 mA pulsing emission current, 0.349 A/cm2 current density, and 1.9% current fluctuation were achieved in a fin-shaped CNT array. The results demonstrate that the high-current field emission electron source can be realized in a well-designed emission structure that bridges the nanoscale emitter and macroscale structure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vacuum Electronics: From Micro to Nano)
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