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Updated: Jun 8, 2026

Electrochemical Etching and Characterization of Sharp Field Emission Points for Electron Impact Ionization
Published on: July 12, 2016
The Fowler-Nordheim plot behavior and mechanism of field electron emission from ZnO tetrapod structures
Ahmed A Al-Tabbakh1, Mahendra A More, Dilip S Joag
1Department of Physics, Al-Nahrain University, Jadiriya 64055, Baghdad, Iraq. tabbakh2003@yahoo.com
Abstract:
Field emission measurements of current-voltage characteristics are reported for tetrapod structures of ZnO. The nonlinear Fowler-Nordheim (FN) plot is analyzed according to a model of calculation based on saturation of conduction band current and predominance of valence band current at high-field values. The simulated FN plot exhibits similar features to those observed experimentally. The model of calculation suggests that the slope variation of the FN plot, in the high-field and low-field regions, does not depend on the magnitude of saturation. Instead, it is a characteristic of the energy band structure and voltage-to-barrier-field conversion factor of the emitting material.
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