Abstract:
Emission properties and shape transformation of the iridium field emitter under the impact of strong electric field and temperature were studied by field emission microscopy. Creation of an emitter with a stable surface and sufficiently large number of emitting nanoprotrusions for obtaining a direct ion current is impossible in the case of Ir, the current always appears to be pulsed. However, obtaining direct current of Ir ions is none-the-less possible, but only by using separate nanoscale protrusions growing on the $\{012\}$ and $\{023\}$ corners of the emitter built up in the emitter electric field. Ion currents are low in this case, but each protrusion is an almost ideal point source of ions.
Keywords:iridium, nanoscale protrusions, field ion emission.
Fulltext:
PDF file (272 kB)