Energy Distribution and Cooling Effect of Electrons Emitted from an Arc Cathode

Abstract

The energy distribution and the average cooling effect of electrons emitted by the T‐F process are calculated over a wide range of temperatures and electric fields for several values of work functions. It is shown that at low temperatures, the average cooling effect approaches zero and at high temperatures, it is approximately equal to the reduced work function. The limitation of the validity of reduced work function can be easily seen.