field emission

n.
The emission of electrons from the surface of a conductor, caused by a strong electric field.

The emission of electrons from a metal or semiconductor into vacuum (or a dielectric) under the influence of a strong electric field. In field emission, electrons tunnel through a potential barrier, rather than escaping over it as in thermionic or photoemission. The effect is purely quantum-mechanical, with no classical analog. It occurs because the wave function of an electron does not vanish at the classical turning point, but decays exponentially into the barrier (where the electron's total energy is less than the potential energy). Thus there is a finite probability that the electron will be found on the outside of the barrier. See also Photoemission; Quantum mechanics.

For a metal at low temperature, the process can be understood in terms of the illustration. The metal can be considered a potential box, filled with electrons to the Fermi level, which lies below the vacuum level by several electronvolts. The distance from Fermi to vacuum level is called the work function, φ. The vacuum level represents the potential energy of an electron at rest outside the metal, in the absence of an external field. In the presence of a strong field, the potential outside the metal will be deformed along the line AB, so that a triangular barrier is formed, through which electrons can tunnel. Most of the emission will occur from the vicinity of the Fermi level where the barrier is thinnest. See also Electron emission; Field-emission microscopy.

Diagram of the energy-level scheme for field emission from a metal at absolute zero temperature.

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The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: the emission of electrons that are stripped from parent atoms by a high electric field

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