General features of field emission from semiconductors

A theory of field emission from p‐ and n‐type semiconductors is developed without use of the zero current approximation. It is demonstrated that in p‐type semiconductors, near the crystal boundary, a weakly conducting region is formed, depleted of mobile carriers which exerts a limiting influence on the current and results in a saturation region appearing in the current‐voltage curve. The saturation current value depends, essentially, on the generation rate of mobile carriers. In n‐type semiconductors this kind of region is not formed, and the phenomenon of saturation arises due to the limited generation rate throughout the whole depth of the sample.