Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Field Emission From a Prolate Spheroidal Tip

TL;DR

This paper uses detailed molecular dynamics simulations to study electron field emission from a prolate spheroidal tip, revealing that space charge effects significantly reduce current compared to classical Fowler-Nordheim predictions.

Contribution

It introduces a full Coulomb interaction simulation approach for field emission from spheroidal tips, accounting for space charge and image-charge effects.

Findings

Space charge limited current is several times lower than Fowler-Nordheim predictions.

Image-charge effects are well approximated by a spherical model near the tip top.

Simulations provide detailed insights into electron emission mechanisms.

Abstract

High resolution molecular dynamics simulations with full Coulomb interactions of electrons are used to investigate field emission from a prolate spheroidal tip. The space charge limited current is several times lower than the current calculated with the Fowler-Nordheim formula. The image-charge is taken into account with a spherical approximation, which is good around the top of the tip, i.e. region where the current is generated.