A relativistic self-consistent model for studying enhancement of space charge limited field emission due to counter-streaming ions

作者：Lin M C^*; Lu P S; Chang P C; Ragan Kelley B; Verboncoeur J P

来源：Physics of Plasmas, 2014, 21(2): 023118.

DOI：10.1063/1.4866601

Recently, field emission has attracted increasing attention despite the practical limitation that field emitters operate below the Child-Langmuir space charge limit. By introducing counter-streaming ion flow to neutralize the electron charge density, the space charge limited field emission (SCLFE) current can be dramatically enhanced. In this work, we have developed a relativistic self-consistent model for studying the enhancement of SCLFE by a counter-streaming ion current. The maximum enhancement is found when the ion effect is saturated, as shown analytically. The solutions in non-relativistic, intermediate, and ultra-relativistic regimes are obtained and verified with 1-D particle-in-cell simulations. This self-consistent model is general and can also serve as a benchmark or comparison for verification of simulation codes, as well as extension to higher dimensions.

• 出版日期2014-2