Life cycle of a tungsten cold field emitter

This paper studies a tungsten cold field emitter throughout its life cycle. The field emission properties and corresponding tungsten emitter evolution throughout its life cycle fall into three distinct regions which are discussed. It was found that adsorbate dynamics affect field emission current stability significantly, while adsorbate induced current instability showed different behaviors in different regions of the life cycle. It was found that emitter failure at the end of the lifetime was due to adsorbate related nanoprotrusion buildup on the emitter surface, a failure mechanism that is different from models previously reported in the literature. The buildup process of this nanoprotrusion and how it initiates arcing and destroys the tungsten tip are reported and discussed.