A Universal Model for Analytical Investigation of Electrical Characteristics of Planar-Gate Nanowire Field Emitters

Planar-gate nanowire field emitters have potential applications in vacuum microelectronic devices. However, analyzing their electrical characteristics often uses finite element analysis which consumes enormous calculation resources and the device physics is not straightforward. In this article, we developed an analytical model for the current-voltage (I–V) characteristics of standard planar-gate nanowire field emitters. The expression for the electric field at the vertex of the nanowire is obtained by using the line charge model (LCM) and considering the superposition of anode and gate voltages. The formula for current is derived using the Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) equation. In addition, the model has been generalized for planar-gate field emitters with randomly distributed nanowires based on probabilistic statistical methods. The analytical solution has been validated through COMSOL Multiphysics simulation and experimental results. We also expanded this model to top planar-gate nanowire field emitters. Our study provides a quick and precise method to obtain the device characteristics of planar-gate nanowire field emitters and save calculation resources.