Universal scaling of electrostatic effects of a curved counter-electrode on the emitter field enhancement

Abstract

Experiments on field electron emission from single-tip nanoemitters have typically been carried out using a counter-electrode with a finite curvature radius $R$, positioned at a distance $d_{\rm{gap}}$ from the emitter's apex. The effects of the counter-electrode's curvature on the apex field enhancement factor ($\gamma_{\rm{Ca}}$) of the emitter are still not understood. In this Letter, we theoretically explore how the apex field enhancement factor of an emitter, represented by a hemisphere on a cylindrical post (HCP) with apex radius $r_{\rm{a}} = 50$nm, is influenced by the curvature of a spherical-shaped counter-electrode. Importantly, our results show that for HCPs with sharpness aspect ratios typically between $10^2$ and $10^3$, there is a universal scaling such that $\gamma_{\rm{Ca}} = \gamma_{\rm{Pa}} \Psi\left({R}/{d_{\rm{gap}}} \right)$, where $\gamma_{\rm{Pa}}$ represents the apex field enhancement factor for the emitter assuming a planar counter-electrode, and $\Psi\left({R}/{d_{\rm{gap}}} \right)$ is a universal scaling function such that $\Psi \sim 1$ for ${R}/{d_{\rm{gap}}} \gg 1$ and $\Psi \sim \left({R}/{d_{\rm{gap}}} \right)^{\alpha}$, with $\alpha$ close to unity, for $ {R}/{d_{\rm{gap}}} \ll 1$. These findings help partially explain discrepancies observed in orhtodox field electron emission experiments, who reported that the effective $\gamma_{\rm{Ca}}$ values extracted from the current-voltage characteristics of single-tip carbon nanotubes typically underestimate the theoretical $\gamma_{\rm{Pa}}$ values when $R \sim d_{\rm{gap}} \gg r_{\rm{a}}$, a trend that is predicted by our results.