Effects of Static-Field Penetration and Atomic Polarization on the Capacity of a Capacitor, Field Evaporation, and Field Ionization Processes

Both static-field penetration and atomic polarization at a metal surface change the effective work function of the surface in a high electric field. The former increases the effective work function, while the latter reduces it in a positive field. The change may amount to several electron volts at a field strength of 6×{}10⁸ V/cm. These two effects should therefore be included in the calculation of the capacity in thin dielectric structures and in the theory of both field evaporation and field ionization.