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VACUUM ›› 2023, Vol. 60 ›› Issue (6): 1-8.doi: 10.13385/j.cnki.vacuum.2023.06.01

• Measurement and Control •     Next Articles

Negative Electron Affinity Materials and Their Applications in Cold Cathodes

ZHU Tao-yuan, WEI Xian-long   

  1. Key Laboratory for the Physics and Chemistry of Nanodevices and School of Electronics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
  • Received:2023-04-30 Online:2023-11-25 Published:2023-11-27

Abstract: Since GaAs was first discovered to have a negative electron affinity in the 1960s, negative electron affinity(NEA)materials have been widely studied and used in photoelectron emission,secondary electron emission and cold cathode. Compared with conventional emitting materials, the conduction band minimum of bulk NEA materials is higher than their surface vacuum energy level, which makes it easier for electrons in the conduction band to be emitted from the surface into the vacuum, and therefore these materials are ideal for electron emission. This paper introduces the NEA materials from the definition, main material classification and applications in cold cathodes, and gives a conclusion of the bottleneck and future development direction of NEA material.

Key words: negative electron affinity, electron emission, cold cathode

CLC Number:  TN304;TN303

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