场发射技术在强流真空电子器件中的应用

摘要

阴极电子源是强流真空电子器件的核心部件,热阴极存在热辐射能耗大、开启时间偏长、高温下材料蒸发等缺陷.以碳纳米管(CNT)为代表的场发射技术在克服热阴极缺陷、提高器件性能上显示了卓越的潜力.本文回顾了基于CNT、场发射阵列等场发射阴极的强流器件(微波管、X射线管等)的发展现状,并对场发射技术存在的不足和可能的解决途径进行了讨论.%Electron sources are key component for vacuum electronic devices. The nature of thermionic cathodes induced many technical difficulties of the devices, including poor energy efficiency; long preheat time; sensitivity to "poisoning" materials at high temperature. The field emission technique form carbon nanotube has demonstrated extraordinary performances to overcome shortages of thermionic cathodes. In this paper, the development status of high power vacuum electronic devices using field emitters was reviewed. This article also discussed the technical problems and challenges related to the field emission and possible solutions.