Field electron emission 2026-10-18
Field electron emission releases Electrons from matter through electric-field-assisted quantum tunnelling at the surface. The emission mechanism and its rate are distinct from the subsequent acceleration and Larmor formula radiation of an electron already travelling through an approximately uniform electric field.
After field electron emission, let denote the plate separation of the parallel-plate capacitor, which the question does not specify. The uniform capacitor electric field has magnitude , and a nonrelativistic Electron of mass has constant acceleration magnitude . The sign of its charge affects the direction of the radiation field but not its radiated power.
In the supplied nonrelativistic Liénard-Wiechert field, . At polar angle to the acceleration, , henceThe outgoing Poynting vector has magnitude . Its radiated power per solid angle is thereforeUsing gives the Larmor formula and the requested constant power during the uniform-field part of the flight:The brackets in the given field require the acceleration at retarded time; the radiation reaches the far observer after the propagation delay. This derivation assumes that radiation reaction is a small correction to the acceleration and that the flight is nonrelativistic, for example for release from rest. Entry, emission and impact transients are not described by the uniform-field model. A result solely in terms of cannot be obtained without a plate spacing or a specified internal field.