Nanometer-scale discernment of field emission from tungsten surface with single carbon monoxide molecule

Abstract

Unusual quantized beam fluctuations were found in the emission current from a cold-field emitter (CFE) operating in an extremely high vacuum of 10−10 Pa. To clarify the microscopic mechanism behind these fluctuations, we developed a new calculation method to evaluate the field emission from a heterogeneous surface under a strong electric field of 4 × 109 V/m by using the local potential distribution obtained by a first-principles calculation, instead of by using the work function. As a result of the first-principles calculations of a single molecule adsorbed on a tungsten surface, we found that dissociative adsorption of a carbon monoxide (CO) molecule enhances the emission current by changing the potential barrier in the area surrounding the C and O adatoms when these two atoms are placed at their most stable positions. It is also found that the migration of the O atom from the most stable position reduces the emission current. These types of enhancement and reduction of the emission current quantitatively explain the observed quantized fluctuations of the CFE emission current.