A new, nondestructive method for electron field emission measurement is presented, which, in principle, completely avoids the need for deleterious multiple sparking of the surface required by previous workers and which allows electron field emission to be measured at its origin; i.e. with only a few electrons leaving the cathodes per second. The results obtained on oxide-covered copper cathodes with various controlled thicknesses differ markedly from those obtained by previous workers and conform more with modern interpretation.
List of symbolsE = electric field, Vcm" 1 h = average size of electron avalanche, electrons a = Townsend's primary ionisation coefficient, cm" 1 d = electrode gap distance, cm n = number of electrons in avalanche N(ri) = number of avalanches per second larger than n electrons, s" 1 N o = number of electrons per second emitted from cathode, s" 1 v = voltage pulse height due to n electrons, V A = voltage amplification factor, V/electron x = potential divider ratio, 1 ^ x ^ 0 u 0 = discriminator voltage of electron counter, V N(t> 0 ) = number of pulse heights per second greater than C, D = constants in original Fowler-Nordheim (F/N) law (f) = work function of metal cathode in original F/N law or Latham's interpretation, V M = electric-field-enhancement factor £ = Fermi level, V S = emitting area in original F/N law, cm 2 S 2 = new emitting area according to Stern Gosling and Fowler (SGF), cm 2 5j= original emitting area in F/N law, cm 2 (j) 2 = work function of oxide layer in SGF law, V
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