The shape of field-ion emitters

Abstract

The determination of the precise geometry of the field-ion emitter from its field-ion image has been a long-standing problem. An analytical method is given which allows the cartesian coordinates (x,y,z) of each imaging site to be determined using data extracted from the micrograph by ring counting techniques. The coordinate data extracted in this way are used to produce profiles of the shape of symmetric and asymmetric iridium and tungsten emitters.