Displacement of Field Emitters by Vacuum Discharges

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Abstract
The location of field emitting micro‐points, produced by nanosecond discharges in UHV, has been investigated by field emission microscopy. Weak discharges (duration < 5 ns, current < 10 A) caused a displacement of the field emission over the cathode by a distance that corresponds to average crater diameters (4–6 μm). Thus new emitters are produced at the boundary of discharge craters. More intense discharges show sometimes a far higher displacement. This can be explained by the formation of micro‐points by splashes of molten metal that fly out of the discharge craters. The results support the model of the development of micro‐points, as it was published in [1]. They show furthermore that the motion of arc cathode spots can be related to the displacement of microscopic field emitters.

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