Zirconiated Tungsten (ZrOW) Thermal Field Emitters (TFE)
TFEs are heated, like thermionic emitters, but are also electrochemically etched to have microscopically sharp tips, similar to cold field emitters. Due to the sharpness of the emitter and its orientation to the suppressor during operation, a very-high electric field is produced at the source tip.
The APT Advantage in Thermal Field Emission
Features:
We offer zirconiated tungsten thermal field emitters (ZrOW TFE), known as Schottky sources. The ZrOW TFE is the industry-standard emitter for electron beam applications requiring high brightness, improved spatial resolution, stable emission, and long life.
Our ZrOW sources meet general OEM performance specifications and operational parameters and can be manufactured with custom end form (radius) geometries and any emitter base/suppressor configurations including FEI/Philips, Denka, Hitachi, JEOL, or custom configurations.
NOTE: The lowering of the potential barrier by the field and the thermal energy supplied to the electrons through heating produce a source capable of operating in a non-crossover mode (or virtual source mode). As a result, unlike thermionic emitters, TFEs are not space-charge limited and are orders of magnitude brighter than typical thermionic sources.
