Effective emission area calculation for single tip CNT cathode

For the analysis of CNT based field emitters a precise calculation of effective emission area is quite important. However, its calculation still involves a lot of uncertainty. Some work was done towards calculating the effective emission area by simulating a single tip CNT cathode using CST Particle Studio. In the model developed, the hemispherical CNT tip was divided into several areas. Electron emission from each of these areas was calculated as a function of applied electric field and a spatial distribution of emission current was obtained. The paper reports the effective emission area calculations done using these results.