Stability of field-emitters a Kinetic Monte Carlo study

In this work we study the long-term stability of surface nano-structures that may function as field emitters. For this purpose, we have developed a new Kinetic Monte Carlo model for the surface diffusion. We have found that copper tips with an aspect ratio of about 8 may be stable for hours at room temperature, but collapses already within a microsecond at temperatures above 800 K.