Abstract
It has been shown that field emission is an important mechanism in emerging microplasma devices. Ions formed by electron impact ionization that are very close to the cathode may bring significant enhancement to the emission current by both resonant and non-resonant processes. In this work, we numerically solve the one-dimensional Schrodinger's equation in the presence of an ion approaching the surface, and investigate the resonant states using perturbation method. Results show that the resonant process can be a major factor in the augmentation of the overall emission current when the applied field is ∼1–3 V/nm and the ion is ∼1–3 nm away from the cathode. The reason for this is that under these conditions the resonant states are well aligned with occupied levels in the supply function of the cathode. This study suggests that we may be able to maximize/minimize the emission current to control a microplasma by manipulating one factor relative to another: the supply function of the cathode and the operating conditions of the emitter. This idea can be applied to various microplasma science and technologies.
Published Version
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