Field emission from semiconductors

Summary form only given. A detailed review of the results of experimental and theoretical investigations of field emission from semiconductors, carried out in our laboratory, is presented. Researches of the emission from standard p- and n-type semiconductors (Ge, Si), as well as broad-band semiconductors (CdS) are described. Both stationary emission and the reaction of emission current to pulsed switching the voltage on were explored. Some results of photo-field emission investigations are presented. Specific attention was devoted to the exploration of nonlinear current-voltage characteristics (CVC). It was shown that the non-linearity of the CVC is connected with the limited electron inflow from the bulk of the semiconductor field cathode to the emitting surface.