Study of the electric field screening effect for field emitter arrays

Understanding the influence of the interaction of emitters on the field emission performance of a field emitter array is of great importance for the design of a multi-emitter device. In this work, a screening factor S is defined to quantify the effect of electric field screening due to the interaction of emitters in an array. A three-dimensional finite integration technique is used to study the electric field screening effect for Spindt-type field emitter arrays which have potential applications in flatscreen displays and high-power vacuum electronics. The dependences of the electric field screening on the tip-to-tip spacing, half-angle of the emitter, height of the emitter and radius of the tip's curvature are analyzed. The effects of the variations in the size of the emitter's geometry on the most efficient arrangement to achieve maximum emission efficiency in an array are discussed.