Abstract

We have calculated the electrical characteristics of a vacuum transistor withsharp, pointed emitter and collector with a radius of curvature R<20nm with the aim of revealing the advantages of such emitters. For such surfaces the traditional Fowler-Nordheim theory which pertains to a parallel plate configuration is not valid. We have used a 3-dimensional WKB theory capable of calculating the distribution of the current in space. We have shown that for values of emitter radius in the range of a few nanometers the current density is enclosed within a cone of angle of approximately 6°–16° thus minimizing current losses. The Id–Vd characteristics were calculated and found to exhibit a exponential behavior and a saturation region spanning currents from 10−14A to 10−6A by only 2 Voltsvolts change in gate voltage Vg, i.e. exhibiting an extraordinary transconductance.

Highlights

  • In recent years there has been a revival of the vacuum triode in solid state form under the name “vacuum transistor”

  • The nanometric size of the gap between anode and cathode guarantees the existence of very high electric fields which can make the device work by cold field emission instead of thermionic emission, a process that required high temperatures, a clear disadvantage of the historic vacuum valve

  • There are configurations of vacuum transistors in which electron emission occurs from a planar surface,5 the majority of configurations involve either emission from pointed electrodes,1,2,7 or from the edges of graphene sheets

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Summary

Introduction

In recent years there has been a revival of the vacuum triode in solid state form under the name “vacuum transistor”.1–7 The device retains the advantages of the vacuum triode such as high speed, high transconductance and immunity to radiation while at the same time dispensing with the disadvantages that led to the abandonment of the vacuum triode. A 3-dimensional calculation of the field emission current and emission angle of a vacuum transistor as a function of gate voltage and radius of curvature of the emitter

Results
Conclusion

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