Abstract
We compare Schottky Emission (SE) and Cold Field Emission (CFE) cathodes with respect to emission characteristics and environmental factors. The CFE cathodes most commonly used are W<310> and a slightly oxidized W<100> used at room temperature. The SE cathode most commonly used is a ZrO coated W<100> emitter which has a localized work function of 2.8 ±0.2 eV on the <100> plane.In terms of emission mechanism, SE and CFE represent two extremes of a continuous change in surface electric field strength F and temperature T of a pointed cathode. The primary difference between a SE and CFE cathode is F, T, and energy distribution as shown in Fig. 1. TheSE cathode emission distribution contains mostly non-tunneling electrons terminated on the low energy side by the work function barrier. In contrast, the CFE emission distribution is defined by tunneling electrons terminated on the high energy side near the Fermi level of the metal.
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