Abstract
The thermionic emission properties of polycrystalline NdB6 have been determined as a function of surface composition throughout its single-phase region. the equation log I = 1.673−15637/T+2 log T−0.0042 T/{exp[0.07X/(X−6)]+1} describes the relationship between emitted current flux I (A/cm2), temperature T (K), and surface composition X (B/Nd) between 1200 and 1600 K. The effective work function at 1500 K is 3.22 eV for NdB6.0 and 4.04 eV for NdB8.0. Previous measurements of the LaB6 phase were fit by the equation log I = 2.533−15330/T+2 log T−0.5T exp[−0.11X/(X−6)]. This information was used to determine the density of states for the two hexaborides and make predictions about the behavior of various ternary systems.

This publication has 6 references indexed in Scilit: