Properties of electron field emission from a fractal surface

The results of a numerical simulation of electron field emission from the s urface of 2-D fractal object bounded by a Julia set are presented. The calc ulations show that emission occurs mainly from small parts of the surface c lose to selfsimilar small-scale irregularities, where the electrostatic fie ld is enhanced. The results presented confirm the hypothesis, that the unus ual field-emission properties of some materials can be explained by taking into account the fractal structure of its surface. The connection between t he fractal dimension and the emission properties are discussed. It is found that the emission current depends mainly on the geometry of small-scale ir regularities. Nevertheless, the fractal dimension defines the slope of curr ent-voltage characteristics. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights rese rved.