Optimum geometry and space-charge effects in vacuum microelectronics devices

Author

Cui, Zheng ; Tong, Linsu

Author_Institution

Cavendish Lab., Cambridge Univ., UK

Volume

40

Issue

2

fYear

1993

fDate

2/1/1993 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

448

Lastpage

452

Abstract

A numerical method is presented for the simulation of electrical characteristics of microemitter devices. The method, a combination of the boundary integral method and the finite difference method, is capable of dealing with arbitrary microemitter shapes and calculating space-charge effects. A spherical mesh structure has been used, which allows calculations with high resolution in the vicinity of a microemitter apex. Seven different microemitter shapes have been simulated for the comparison of their field-enhancement factors. The optimum geometry of a microemitter is found to be a cusp-like shape. The space charge has an effect on field emission current only for current densities above 10⁸ A/cm²

Keywords

boundary-elements methods; electron field emission; finite difference methods; mesh generation; space charge; vacuum microelectronics; boundary integral method; cusp-like shape; electrical characteristics; field emission current; field-enhancement factors; finite difference method; microemitter devices; numerical method; optimum geometry; simulation; space-charge effects; spherical mesh structure; vacuum microelectronics devices; Current density; Electric variables; Electrodes; Finite difference methods; Geometry; Integral equations; Microelectronics; Shape; Space charge; Space technology;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9383

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/16.182526

Filename

182526