Mechanism analysis of field electron emission of titanium

Abstract

Field electron emission (FEE) is generally considered to be closely correlated with radio frequency (RF) breakdown in accelerating structures and high-power microwave (HPM) devices. In this study, the field emission characteristics of titanium are investigated by using a field emission test system. With the increase of the number of field emission tests and stability tests, the repeatability of the field emission characteristic curve of titanium tends to be better, and the amplitude of the current oscillation in the stability tests gradually decreases, indicating that the field emission performance of titanium gradually becomes stable. Subsequently, the field emission characteristic curve of titanium is analyzed by adopting the field emission theory of metal microprotrusions. Combined with the analysis of the electric field enhancement effects caused by the surface morphology, the dominant effect of the metal microprotrusions on the FEE of titanium is excluded from the two aspects of the electric field enhancement factor and local maximum emission current density. At last, the field emission theory of dielectric micropoints is introduced to analyze the field emission characteristics of titanium. The electric field enhancement factor of 102 ∼ 103 are explained theoretically. Simultaneously, the reasonable effective emission area and local emission current density are given, which can better explain the field emission phenomena of titanium, such as the sharp decrease in emission current and repeatability of the field emission curve. Hence, it is revealed that the key factor that dominates the FEE of titanium is the dielectric impurities on the surface, rather than the metal microprotrusions.