Liquid carbon surface during explosive emission

It has been established that the surface layer of carbon emitter is getting liquefied during an explosive electron emission (EEE) pulse to form very fine (on the scale of nanometers) tips with top curvature radii r<10 nm. Such tips are evenly distributed over the carbon emitter surface with a density on the order of 108 cm−2. One can surmise that it is these tips that secure a high stability and reproducibility of EEE from carbon emitter surfaces. A phenomenon of “electropolishing” of the carbon surface has been discovered which occurs when ions are extracted from the explosive emission plasma. It is experimentally demonstrated that taking off of the ion current gives rise to conditions ultimately resulting in a discontinuation of the formation of microprojections at the emitter surface, with the carbon emitter surface becoming more smooth (“polished”), and with the emergence of a new EEE cycle hampered.