Cathode Emission Characterization Improvement

The dependence of thermionic emission upon both the cathode´s emissive capabilities and the applied electric fields complicates the concise characterization of emission in a vacuum electron device. This article proposes a modest refinement to the technique, first introduced by Longo and later improved by Vaughan, for combining the Richardson-Dushman equation, the Child-Langmuir space-charge law, and the Schottky effect in order to accurately characterize emission over a wide range of temperatures. The proposed refinement adds factors to account for the change in device geometry due to thermal expansion