Recently

on the experiments

the characteristic of field electron emission of different novel semiconductor films and a variety of experimental methods to prepare semiconductor films have been paid more attentions. However

on the theories

there are rarely the related new reports. The main reason is that the traditional theories of field electron emission have not been adapted well to the novel nanomaterials which show different characteristics from the general semiconductor materials. So

it is necessary to set up a theoretical model to resolve the problem preliminarily. In the paper

by developing and improving conventional Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) field emission model considering electron scattering when electron transmits through the semiconductor film

the effect of thin-film thickness on field electron emission under the influence of an applied electric field has been studied theoretically. Barriers restricting electron transmission have an obviously change with the variation of the thickness of semiconductor film materials

so the current density of field electron emission also changed due to the variation of transmissive electron numbers. Results show that it is prominent for the effect of the film thickness on field electron emission. With the increase of the film thickness

there appears a worst film thickness value and an optimal film thickness value later for properties of field electron emission

which agreed well with some experimental reports. Correspond with this

the turn-on electric field appears a maximum and a minimum one after the other

however

the field electron emission current appears a minimum and a maximum one after the other. Furthermore

by analyses

distinct effects of the semiconductor film thickness on field electron emission may originate from the change of the area of effective tunneling barrier and the attenuation of electron scattering. Based on the model

not only some experimental results can be interpreted well

but also it can offer a theoretical guidance to the design of some vacuum microelectronic devices.