Fractional-dimensional Child-Langmuir law for a rough cathode

This work presents a self-consistent model of space charge limited current transport in a gap combined of free-space and fractional-dimensional space (F-alpha), where (alpha) is the fractional dimension in the range 0 < alpha <= 1. In this approach, a closed-form fractional-dimensional generalization of Child-Langmuir (CL) law is derived in classical regime which is then used to model the effect of cathode surface roughness in a vacuum diode by replacing the rough cathode with a smooth cathode placed in a layer of effective fractional-dimensional space. Smooth transition of CL law from the fractional-dimensional to integer-dimensional space is also demonstrated. The model has been validated by comparing results with an experiment. Published by AIP Publishing.