Explosive field emission cathodes have been used extensively in high power
microwave tubes. These cathodes emit electrons without the use of cathode h
eaters. Recently, some theoretical and simulation work has been performed t
o gain further understanding of the physics of these cathodes. The purpose
of this letter is to provide the experimental background and justification
for the theoretical work. The general idea of how explosive field emission
cathodes operate is that plasma is rapidly formed, which provides the sea o
f electrons for space charge limited flow. However, recent theoretical and
experimental work suggests edge effects, rather than plasma formation acros
s the entire emission area, can also provide the same effect. In this lette
r we review three types of cathodes which have been tested. We provide opti
cal data on the cathode emission uniformity as well as the electrical data
for the same devices. In particular, we find that a large percentage of the
cathode can fail to take part in the emission process and yet the voltage
and current can appear identical from the case in which the entire cathode
contributes electrons to the emission process. (C) 2001 American Institute
of Physics.