Influence of nanoscale geometry on the thermodynamics of electron field emission

The effects of nanoscale emitter size on the energy transport in electron field-emission devices are considered, with emitter radii ranging from 5 nm to infinity. Theoretical results for energy distribution and flux indicate that emitter radii less than 50 nm produce significant filtering in favor of high-energy electrons relative to the planar case. An emitter radius of 5 nm is shown to produce a peak energy flux of 250 W/cm(2) away from the emitter at a temperature of 300 K. This high rate of energy transport could prove to be useful in the development of direct refrigeration devices. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.