Progress on the journey to put field electron emission onto a better scientific basis

Abstract

This paper forms part of a long-term project to put field electron emission (FE) onto a better scientific basis, by seeking reliable quantitative agreement between theory and experiment, especially as regards emission-current values. The main paper aims are: (1) to respond to remarks made in recent papers; (2) to restate the thinking behind our 2022 methodology for choosing between different FE models using experiments; (3) to assess progress; and (4) to make further suggestions about improved approaches.