Field Emission Studies of TiC Single Crystal

Abstract

The work function and emission characteristics of TiC single crystal have been investigated by a field emission microscope. A titanium carbide tip was prepared by electrochemical etching from a crystal bar (1 mm×1 mm×8 mm) oriented in the [100] direction. The work function of TiC has been found to be 2.6 eV for annealed tip at 1600–1700°C and 2.7 eV for annealed one at 1800°C. The clean field emission pattern of TiC single crystal tip showed the fcc like four-fold symmetry having the dark area corresponding to the (001) plane at the center. The stable emission characteristics were obtained at the pressure below 10-6 Torr in a field emission system.