Abstract
Field emission from broad metal cathodes is known to be strongly enhanced at a small number of emitting sites per cm2 compared to the expected Fowler–Nordheim emission from ideal, flat surfaces. We have operated a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) in the field emission regime (typical tip voltage: +80 V) and measured the local field emission strengths and variations on niobium samples. With a modulation technique, which is an adaptation of the standard work function measurement, maps of the field enhancement factor β have been obtained. An example of an emission site is presented where STM topograph and β map are compared with a secondary electron microscope image and with field emission data obtained in a standard way using high-voltage anodes. This demonstrates the capability of a scanning tunneling microscope to localize enhanced field emission sites (with typical β values of 50 in the present work) with high spatial resolution and to study surfaces down to the limit β=1.
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