Analytic study on cold field electron emission from metallic nanowall array

The cold field electron emission from metallic nanowall array is investigated theoretically. Via conformal mapping method, analytic formulas of tunneling barrier, edge field enhancement factor, transmission coefficient, and area emission current density are derived in the semi-classical approximation. The influence of field enhancement effects and screening effects on cold field emission are discussed and the optimal spacing distance between nanowalls for the largest emission current density is found to be a linear function of the height of nanowalls and depends on the applied field.