Emergence of a non-Fowler-Nordheim-type behavior for a general planar tunneling barrier

• Published in: Physics letters. A 2020-07, Vol.384 (19), p.126399, Article 126399
• Main Authors: Lopes, Nei, Andrade-Neto, A.V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Field emission current density; Fowler-Nordheim-type theory; Non-Fowler-Nordheim-type behavior; Planar tunneling barrier; Small Fermi energy
• ISSN: 0375-9601; 1873-2429
• DOI: 10.1016/j.physleta.2020.126399

•We investigate a generalized tunneling barrier for planar emitters at zero-temperature.•We present the evidence of the emergence of a non-Fowler-Nordheim-type general behavior for small Fermi energies.•For large Fermi energies we confirm that the conventional theory is suitable for metals. In this work we investigate a generalized tunneling barrier for planar emitters at zero-temperature. We present the evidence of the emergence of a non-Fowler-Nordheim-type general behavior for the field emission current density in the case that the Fermi energy (μ) is comparable with or smaller that the decay width (dF). Therefore, for some non-metals or materials that have very small Fermi energy the standard Fowler-Nordheim-type theory may require a correction. In the opposite regime, i.e., for μ much larger that dF, we confirm that the conventional theory is suitable for metals.