Electron emission from La-Doped lead zirconate stannate titanate antiferroelectric ceramic under fast electric field pulses

High current density pulsed-electron emission is observed from a lead zirconate stannate titanate lanthanum-doped (PLZST) antiferroelectric ceramic disc on application of positive or negative triggering voltage pulses. Electron-emission pulse with a peak current density 1,400 A/cm² and a full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) duration of 560 ns was recorded in the presence of a 3.5 kV dc extraction voltage. It is higher than the various earlier results obtained using lead zirconate titanate ferroelectric ceramic. Self emission of electrons with a current density of 1.3 A/cm² and the FWHM duration of about 100 ns were also observed. Strong electrons emission was the co-effect of surface plasma and noncompensated charges at the surface of the antiferroelectric. Field-induced local phase transition in the vicinity close to triple junction results in primary electron emission from these areas. These primary emission electrons ignited surface plasma and then led to the strong emission.