Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B, Vol.26, No.6, 2080-2084, 2008
Range of validity of field emission equations
The analytical equations for field emission current density and total energy distribution are compared with a rigorous numerical solution of the fundamental emission equations over a wide range of electric field, work function, and temperature. In particular, the range of the latter parameters where agreement occurs between the analytical and numerical results is established. Some interesting periodic deviations with applied electric field are observed for the numerically calculated current density and total energy distributions.