A light source (100) provided herein generally includes a substrate (110), a cathode (120), an isolating layer (122), a light-permeable anode (152), and at least one fluorescent layer (154). The substrate has a surface, and the cathode, with at least one solid electron emitter formed thereon, is located on the surface of the substrate. The isolating layer is formed on the cathode. The light-permeable anode faces the field emitters and is spaced from the cathode to form a vacuum chamber. The at least one fluorescent layer is formed on the anode. Such a light source can then be incorporated, e.g., into a backlight module (300) for an LCD device.