Abstract
A “transparent anode” facility has been used to compare the field-induced electron emission characteristics of planar YBaCuO high-T c electrodes at room temperature and in the superconducting state. It was found that virgin electrodes under ambient conditions exhibit an initial “current switch-on” event at typical field levels of ∼30 MV m−1, with the emission coming from a single point site: a large hysteresis effect was also observed when the field was cycled. In contrast, at low temperatures, no switch-on events were observed, and the hysteresis effect was significantly smaller. Also, if an emission current in the nanoamp range was recorded under constant-field conditions as the temperature was lowered through T c, there was an abrupt (i.e. step-like) fall in both the emission current and its associated noise at the superconducting transition.
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Mazurek, B., Xu, N.S. & Latham, R.V. Field-induced electron emission from broad-area YBaCuO high-T c electrodes. JOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE 28, 2833–2839 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00356227
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00356227