Fowler-Nordheim-plot shape associated with large series resistance

Abstract

This conference poster discusses a particular situation where the current emitted from a carbon nanofibre field electron emitter was found to be a nearly linear function of the applied voltage, with the load resistance (as seen by the highvoltage generator) approximately equal to 150 Mega-ohms. This suggests thatnon-orthodoxy of measured FN plots can sometimes be due to series resistance rather than current dependence in a characterization parameter, and also that saturation may not be a good name for the effect. The Fowler-Nordheim (FN) plot has a characteristic shape, in that it turns over and then decreases in a roughly linear fashion, as the applied voltage V increases (and 1/V decreases). A preliminary literature search has found examples of other FN plots that behave in a generally similar way. This raises the hypothetical possibility that, when a FN plot is non-linear, information about the cause of the non-linearity could be deduced from general characteristics of its shape. However, much detailed research is needed before this could be done with confidence,