Enhanced thermionic currents by non equilibrium electron populations of metals

Domenech-Garret, J. L.; Tierno, S. P.; Conde, Luis

doi:10.1140/epjb/e2013-40646-5

Cited by 13 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The above hypothesis concurs with the findings presented in a study by Domenech-Garret et al (2013) who examined the effect of non-equilibrium electrons on thermionic emission in metals. The researchers reformulated the FD statistics for a system of excited electrons by approximating the energy spectrum using a Kappa term in the energy distribution function.…”

supporting

confidence: 91%

Beta Radiation Enhanced Thermionic Emission from Diamond Thin Films

et al. 2017

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Diamond-based thermionic emission devices could provide a means to produce clean and renewable energy through direct heat-to-electrical energy conversion. Hindering progress of the technology are the thermionic output current and threshold temperature of the emitter cathode. In this report, we study the effects on thermionic emission caused by in situ exposure of the diamond cathode to beta radiation. Nitrogen-doped diamond thin films were grown by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition on molybdenum substrates. The hydrogen-terminated nanocrystalline diamond was studied using a vacuum diode setup with a 63 Ni beta radiation source-embedded anode, which produced a 2.7-fold increase in emission current compared to a 59 Ni-embedded control. The emission threshold temperature was also examined to further assess the enhancement of thermionic emission, with 63 Ni lowering the threshold temperature by an average of 58 ± 11 °C compared to the 59 Ni control. Various mechanisms for the enhancement are discussed, with a satisfactory explanation remaining elusive. Nevertheless, one possibility is discussed involving excitation of preexisting conduction band electrons that may skew their energy distribution toward higher energies.

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confidence: 91%

Beta Radiation Enhanced Thermionic Emission from Diamond Thin Films

et al. 2017

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“…(2.2) are higher than those calculated using the classical Richardson-Dushmann expression J RD (T ), which is also recovered in the opposite limit of large κ [16]. The contribution in J κ (T ) of the high energy tail of the electron energy distribution function increases with the metal temperature.…”

Section: The Non Equilibrium Electron Emission Modelmentioning

confidence: 67%

“…[16]. The RD expression underestimates the experimental emission currents for high metal temperatures, whereas J RD (T ) and J κ (T ) agree for moderate values.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…(2.1) account for a large high energy tail in the electron energy spectrum, whereas large indexes κ recover the classical Fermi-Dirac statistics [16].…”

Section: The Non Equilibrium Electron Emission Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, an analytical expression was derived for the thermionic current density J κ (T ), using a modified Kappa energy distribution for the electrons [16]. This formula corresponds to the high energy, non equilibrium Fermi-Dirac distribution [17,18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Non-equilibrium thermionic electron emission for metals at high temperatures

Domenech-Garret

Tierno

Conde

2015

Journal of Applied Physics

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The stationary thermionic electron emission currents from heated metals are compared against an analytical expression derived using a non equilibrium quantum Kappa energy distribution for the electrons. This later depends on the temperature decreasing parameter κ(T ) which can be estimated from the raw experimental data and characterizes the departure of the electron energy spectrum from the equilibrium Fermi-Dirac statistics. The calculations accurately predict the measured thermionic emission currents for both high and moderate temperature ranges. The Richardson-Dushman law governs the electron emission for large values of Kappa or equivalently, for moderate metal temperatures. The high energy tail in the electron energy distribution function which develops at higher temperatures or lower Kappa parameters, increases the emission currents well over the predictions of the classical expression. This analysis also permits the quantitative estimation of the departure of the metal electrons from the equilibrium Fermi-Dirac statistics.

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Propagator Computational Method for Drift‐Diffusion Equations to Describe Plasma‐Wall Interaction

González¹,

Donoso²,

Conde³

2014

Contrib. Plasma Phys.

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Plasmas evolve under sharp conditions such as localized currents, charge separation and absorption or emission of particles. The plasma‐wall interaction is one of these singularities. Numerical methods based upon differences usually fail under these abrupt boundary conditions leading to new spurious noise and singularities of numerical nature. Here, we extend the path‐sum integral numerical method to account for abrupt boundary conditions in plasma drift‐diffusion equations. The boundary‐path‐integral solution also shows the advantages of the smoothing affects of the diffusive short‐time propagators for unbounded domains. The proposed scheme is free of artificial numerical smoothing functions to mask sharp behaviours. This stable, robust and grid‐free algorithm is applied to test cases of plasma‐wall interaction with an advancing scheme that simultaneously copes with disparate electron and ion time scales. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

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Enhanced thermionic currents by non equilibrium electron populations of metals

Cited by 13 publications

References 14 publications

Beta Radiation Enhanced Thermionic Emission from Diamond Thin Films

Beta Radiation Enhanced Thermionic Emission from Diamond Thin Films

Non-equilibrium thermionic electron emission for metals at high temperatures

Propagator Computational Method for Drift‐Diffusion Equations to Describe Plasma‐Wall Interaction

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