Electron emission from lead lanthanum zirconate titanate ferroelectric cathodes

This work concentrated on studying the relationship between electron emission and materials properties. Ferroelectric (PLZT 7/65/35) and paraelectric (PLZT 12/65/35) compositions of lead lanthanum zirconate titanate (PLZT) system were chosen to study for their widely different ferroelectric and dielectric properties. The experimental results proved the wrong of the spontaneous polarization switching model which based on the ferroelectric properties of the cathode. The mechanism of electron emission from PLZT ceramics was ascertained to field emission and surface plasma emission. The emission current depends slightly on the ferroelectric properties and depends significantly on the dielectric constant.