Experimental study of lead-free ferroelecrtric ceramics for electron emission

Being a novel functional material, the ferroelectric cathode materials were studied well with the leaded materials for their high electron emission density. In this paper, the initial experiment of electron emission was carried out with the lead-free ferroelectric ceramics Na1/2 Bi1/2Ti O3 -BaTiO3 (BNBT). High current density about 20A/cm2 has been obtained with the excitation voltage around 11kV. In contrast with the lead zirconate titanate (PZT), BNBT's emission current density is lower but its parameter stability is better. The initial data show that BNBT is a potential lead-free ferroelectric cathode material.