Field-Induced Electron Emission from Artificially Produced Carbon Sites on Broad-Area Copper and Niobium Electrodes

It has been experimentally demonstrated that micrometersized particles of graphite deposited on the surface of copper and niobium electrodes can promote the field emission of electrons in the range of 5-20 MV ·m-1. From measurements of the current-voltage characteristic, electron spectrum, and emission image of such sites, it has been concluded that electrons arc emitted by a mechanism similar to that operating at the naturally occurring sites responsible for prebreakdown electron emission. A hot-electron-based metal-insulator-metal (MIM) model is considered.