A scalable, integrated photoemitter device and method of manufacture using conventional CMOS manufacturing techniques. The photoemitter device has a first semiconductor substrate having a plurality of photonic sources formed on top in a first material layer, the plurality of photonic sources and the material layer forming a planar surface. A second substrate is bonded to the planar surface, the second substrate having a plurality of photoemitter structures formed on top in a second material layer, each photoemitter structure in alignment with a respective photonic source of the first substrate and configured to generate particle beams responsive to light from a respective light source. Additionally provided is a multi-level photoemitter of tapered design for implementation in the scalable, integrated photoemitter device. Conventional CMOS manufacturing techniques are also implemented to build the multi-level photoemitter of tapered design.