Modeling of the Influence of Thermal-Field Electron Emission from the Cathode with a Thin Insulating Film on its Heating in Glow Discharge

Journal of Surface Investigation: X-Ray, Synchrotron and Neutron Techniques. 2022. Vol. 16. No. 4. P. 581–585.

Bondarenko G.G., Kristya V. I., Myo T. H., Fisher M. R.

A model of glow gas discharge in the presence of a thin insulating film on the cathode is formulated.
It takes into account, along with ion-induced secondary electron emission from the cathode surface,
also the thermal-field emission of electrons from the cathode metal substrate into the film under a strong
electric field generated in the insulator when the current flows in the discharge. The electric-field strength in
the film in the steady-state discharge mode is determined from the condition of equality of the discharge current
density and the current density of thermal-field electron emission from the cathode metal substrate into
the film. The dependences of the film-emission efficiency, the cathode effective ion-electron emission yield
and the discharge characteristics on its burning time are calculated. It is shown that already at a cathode temperature
exceeding room temperature by several hundred degrees, the thermal-field mechanism of electron
emission from the metal substrate into the film can have a noticeable influence on the emission properties of
the cathode, the discharge current density and the intensity of its heating in the discharge.

Keywords: glow discharge, тлеющий разряд, cathode, катод, термополевая электронная эмиссия, Thermal-Field Electron Emission