Kinetics of electron emission from the TGS ferroelectric crystal

A study is reported on the behavior in time of the electron emission current density from a triglycine sulfate ferroelectric crystal measured at fixed temperatures. This relation is shown to have an exponential nature. The characteristic emission relaxation time depends on temperature and decreases as one approaches the phase-transition point. The magnitude of the relaxation time and its temperature dependence can be accounted for both within a mechanism in which the emission decay is associated with the emptying of surface electron states, and in terms of the Maxwellian relaxation process.