Field electron emission theory beyond Fowler-Nordheim for nano-scale emitters

摘要

The standard Fowler-Nordheim theory has been widely used and achieved great success in description of field emission (FE) experiments for over 70 years. Its original form was derived for a metallic planar emitter, in the quasi-equilibrium and JWKB approximation. Many generalizations have been made, for instances, to semiconductor emitters, to emitters with round surfaces, to nanowires and nanotubes.[1–3] We will present the field emission models for carbon nanotubes, wide-band-gap nanowires, and metallic nanosheets, emphasizing the deviations against the Fowler-Nordheim theory and some aspects that have not been incorporated in the standard Fowler-Nordheim theory.