Electron Emission in Moderate Accelerating Fields

Abstract

Investigations of Schottky emission from metals, including some recent work, are summarized and discussed. The following are some of the conclusions: The surface barrier outside a uniform metal surface can be represented accurately by a mirror-image form for distances greater than about 20 A from the surface. Patch effects can be correlated to some extent with known surface properties. The dependence of photoelectric emission on applied field is in agreement with the Fowler theory adjusted for a Schottky-type field-dependent threshold. Periodic deviations from the thermionic Schottky effect are in full agreement with the mirror-image model for the extra-surface barrier, and can be used in determining the barrier form in the immediate vicinity of the emitter surface.