FIELD EMISSION ENHANCEMENT AND CONFINEMENT FROM SUPERCONDUCTIVE SURFACES

THIS PROJECT STUDIES THE FEASIBILITY OF USING A SUPERCONDUCTIVE SURFACE AS THE SOURCE OF ELECTRONS FOR ELECTRON-BEAM DIODE APPLICATIONS. CERAMIC-BASED MATERIALS SUCH AS YBA2CU3O6+X WILL BE TESTED. THE MATERIAL WILL BE DEPOSITED AS A COATING ON A METAL ELECTRODE, AND TESTED IN SOLID FORM. THIS WORK WILL CORRELATE THE FIELD-EMISSION CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SUPERCONDUCTIVE SURFACE WITH THE FIELD-EMISSION FORMULATIONS OF FOWLER-NORDHEIM AND RICHARDSON-DUSHMAN. THE FEASIBILITY OF USING SUPERCONDUCTIVE MATERIALS AS ELECTRON SOURCES FOR BEAM DIODES WILL BE DETERMINED BY DEMONSTRATING COATING INTEGRITYAND SUPERCONDUCTIVE-MATERIAL ELECTRON EMISSION UNDER DC AND HIGH-VOLTAGE PULSED REGIMES. IF THIS CONCEPT IS FEASIBLE, CURRENT DENSITIES OF MORE THAN 100 A/CM(2) WILL BE DEMONSTRATED DURING THE PHASE I PROGRAM. THIS PROJECT STUDIES THE FEASIBILITY OF USING A SUPERCONDUCTIVE SURFACE AS THE SOURCE OF ELECTRONS FOR ELECTRON-BEAM DIODE APPLICATIONS. CERAMIC-BASED MATERIALS SUCH AS YBA2CU3O6+X WILL BE TESTED. THE MATERIAL WILL BE DEPOSITED AS A COATING ON A METAL ELECTRODE, AND TESTED IN SOLID FORM. THIS WORK WILL CORRELATE THE FIELD-EMISSION CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SUPERCONDUCTIVE SURFACE WITH THE FIELD-EMISSION FORMULATIONS OF FOWLER-NORDHEIM AND RICHARDSON-DUSHMAN. THE FEASIBILITY OF USING SUPERCONDUCTIVE MATERIALS AS ELECTRON SOURCES FOR BEAM DIODES WILL BE DETERMINED BY DEMONSTRATING COATING INTEGRITYAND SUPERCONDUCTIVE-MATERIAL ELECTRON EMISSION UNDER DC AND HIGH-VOLTAGE PULSED REGIMES. IF THIS CONCEPT IS FEASIBLE, CURRENT DENSITIES OF MORE THAN 100 A/CM(2) WILL BE DEMONSTRATED DURING THE PHASE I PROGRAM.