Simulation of the enhancement factor from an individual 3D hemisphere-on-post field emitter by using finite elements method.

This paper presents a 3D computational framework for evaluating electrostatic properties of a single field emitter characterized by the hemisphere-on-post geometry. Numerical simulations employed the finite elements method by using Ansys-Maxwell software. Extensive parametric simulations were focused on the threshold distance from which the emitter field enhancement factor (γ) becomes independent from the anode-substrate gap (G). This investigation allowed demonstrating that the ratio between G and the emitter height (h) is a reliable reference for a broad range of emitter dimensions; furthermore, results permitted establishing G/h ≥ 2.2 as the threshold condition for setting the anode without affecting γ.