Marshmallowing of nanopillar arrays by field emission

We have fabricated mechanically flexible field electron emitters formed by highly-doped silicon nanopillars on a silicon membrane. Electron beam induced deposition of carbon-based contaminants is employed to probe the spatial activity of electron emission from the nanopillars. The experimental configuration provides a powerful tool to investigate the physics of the field electron emission (FEE). In contrast to the general assumption that field emission only occurs at the tips of nanoscale emitters, we found that the emission from the nanopillars' sidewalls is as strong as from their tips.