FIELD ELECTRON EMISSION FROM METALLIC GLASS

Abstract
The paper reports investigations on field electron emission from Fe70Cr5Si10B15 metallic glass. Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) characteristics are obtained under different conditions of field evaporation. Linearity of the F-N plots and the nature of the ultra-violet photoelectron spectrum show the nearly free electron like nature of the metallic glass. The observed temperature dependence of the field emission current with dc and pulse field evaporation is explained on the basis of compositional variation in the surface and its "imperfect" nature, to a certain extent. These results are supplemented by field ion microscopic observations and discussed in view of the recent atom probe work by several authors. Current densities of the order of 10⁹A/sq.cm. have been observed and attributed largely to the isotropic emission and the enhanced field factor due to surface roughness.