Tungsten microcone arrays grown using nanosecond pulsed-Nd:YAG laser in a low-pressure He-gas atmosphere

Tungsten microcone arrays with a high aspect ratio are formed by the cumulative nanosecond pulsed-Nd:YAG laser irradiation of single-crystal tungsten under low pressure in an inert atmosphere. The morphology of the microcones and their density were strongly affected by the number of laser pulses. The microcones grew to a length of 20 μm with a diameter of about 1.5 μm at the tip after irradiation with more than 1200 pulses under our experimental conditions. They may have potential applications for emission cathodes in a field-emission display (FED) and in microelectronic devices. Received: 8 January 2001 / Accepted: 13 June 2001 / Published online: 2 October 2001