Abstract

An introduction to the history of electron emission, and the placement of field emission within it, is given. An account of the removal of electrons from a metal surface by the application of an electric field large enough to induce appreciable quantum mechanical tunneling is developed. The most commonly used equation describing field emission due to Fowler and Nordheim is derived. Complications to the Fowler‐Nordheim equation are given in the following order: influence of temperature and the development of a General Thermal‐Field emission equation; field enhancement and emission area associated with multidimensional structures and the evaluation of total current from an emitter tip; effects of a distribution of emitters varying in apex radius; the effects of space charge on field emission; and finally, beam quality (in particular, emittance) associated with field emission sources.

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