Reversible shape changes of the end facet on Schottky electron emitters

The Schottky electron source is predominant in today’s focused electron-beam equipment, but its properties are still not fully understood. Generally, its performance is predicted, assuming its tip end geometry is known and stable. In this work, it is shown that the size of the end facet (slowly) shrinks upon reduction in the extraction voltage...

Effect of the electric field on the form stability of a Schottky electron emitter: A step model

The stability of the physical shape of an electron emitter (co)determines the stability of the performance of electron-beam equipment. A typical short-term instability of the Schottky electron source is the instability of the (100) facet at the tip end known as “collapsing rings.” This instability causes probe instabilities, but it is known from...