Abstract
Field emitter arrays are microfabricated very high electron current density sources. For rf amplifier applications, typical current densities are typically on the order of 100 Amps/cm2. Unlike thermionic emitters, the current densities at the emission sites on field emitters can approach 108 Amps/cm2 at high fields. Consequently, the high current from the array can affect the I(V) characterization of the emitters. In this manuscript, we use a simple model of a field emitter to calculate the one dimensional space charge effects on the current versus gate voltage characteristics. Two effects are treated: charge between the gate and anode, and charge within the FEA unit cell, which gives rise to a new space charge component. It is shown that space charge effects can taint the Fowler Nordheim parametrization of field emitters and consequently affect the estimates of their transconductance.
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