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Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Electrochemical Etching and Characterization of Sharp Field Emission Points for Electron Impact Ionization
Published on: July 12, 2016
Field enhancement factor and field emission from a hemi-ellipsoidal metallic needle
Evgeny G Pogorelov1, Alexander I Zhbanov, Yia-Chung Chang
1Research Center for Applied Sciences, Academia Sinica, 128, Section 2, Academia Road Nankang, Taipei 115, Taiwan.
Abstract:
We present an exact solution for the electrostatic field between a metallic hemi-ellipsoidal needle on a plate (as a cathode) and a flat anode. The basic idea is to replace the cathode by a linearly charged thread in a uniform electric field and to use a set of "image" charges to reproduce the anode. We calculate the field enhancement factor on the needle surface and ponderomotive force acting on the needle. Using the Fowler-Nordheim theory we obtain an exact analytical formula for the total current.
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