Low-field electron emission from carbon cluster films: combined thermoelectric/hot-electron model of the phenomenon

Advances in Novel Low-Macroscopic Field Emission Electrode Design Based on Fullerene-Doped Porous Silicon

“…The measurements of the emission characteristics were also carried out. The schematic diagram of the installation is shown in Figure 2 [6]. The device includes a signal Scanning electron microscopy of the porous silicon matrix surface and the cathode prototypes, as well as the recording of energy dispersive X-ray spectra, was carried out using a FIB-SEM TESCAN S9251G double-beam scanning electron-ion microscope (4th gen).…”

“…The measurements of the emission characteristics were also carried out. The schematic diagram of the installation is shown in Figure 2 [6]. The device includes a signal generator, a high-voltage power supply unit, a digital oscilloscope, and a vacuum chamber containing an electrode structure.…”

“…Modern studies [6][7][8] have indicated that the use of the low-macroscopic field emission phenomenon as a means to reduce the threshold electric field strength magnitudes applied to the cathode makes it possible to obtain comparable current density values in much lower fields (in the range between 1 V•µm −1 and 40 V•µm −1 ) than those for which cold field emission (5 V•nm −1 ) is usually observed [9], thus leading to a further increase in the efficiency of this class of devices. For example, the authors of [8] investigated the field emission properties of cathode prototypes based on amorphous nanoporous carbon (NPC).…”

Low-Field Electron Emission Capability of Thin Films on Flat Silicon Substrates: Experiments with Mo and General Model for Refractory Metals and Carbon

“…This paper presents a more comprehensive experimental investigation of LMF emissivity of molybdenum films on flat silicon substrates. Results of these experiments forced us to revise the emission model proposed in [62]. We hope that the revised model may be relevant for both metal and carbon films.…”

“…However, neither of these models could be relevant to the case of LMF emission from nm-thick carbon islets on Si with native oxide having a thickness of only several nanometers because all layers of the system are too thin and the penetration of an external electric field with a magnitude of the order of 1 V/µm into this structure cannot produce sufficient potential differences, comparable (in compatible units) with the work function. To explain the observed LMF emission from such films, we proposed a model that combined elements of the known models of lateral potential variation ("patch field") [45,52,59,60] and hot-electron (or dual-barrier) emission [49,61], and it also accounts for specific nanoscale thermoelectric effects in the article [62]. Our further experiments were aimed at the verification of this model via testing of the LMF emissivity of metal films grown on identical substrates as the carbon films in [38][39][40].…”