Chenning Wang,Xiaoyu Zhou,Tianqi Jiang,Zhenrui Xu,Esmond A. Balfour,Hao Fu
The high content of Ba and Sc in Ba
$_{\text{3}}$
ScGa
$_{\text{2}}$
O
$_{\text{7.5}}$
and its suitable melting point suggest that it is a candidate for thermionic emission in vacuum electron devices. To study its electron emission capacity, this compound was synthesized at 1300
$^{\circ}$
C by a high-temperature solid-phase method with the stoichiometric mole ratio of BaCO
$_{\text{3}}$
:Sc
$_{\text{2}}$
O
$_{\text{3}}$
:Ga
$_{\text{2}}$
O
$_{\text{3}}$$=$
6:1:2. The test cathode impregnated with this material had a high emission capacity with the full-space charge current density of 10.2 A/cm
$^{\text{2}}$
at 850
$^{\circ}$
C in the dc mode. The sintered mixture of the compound and tungsten powder reveals that the formation of Ba
$_{\text{3}}$
Sc
$_{\text{2}}$
WO
$_{\text{9}}$
on the cathode surface leads to reduced work function and thus enhanced emission performance. The titled compound is environmentally stable with a low weight gain percentage (4.51%) and a steady phase in the air for 288 h. Coupled with the high emission current density at low temperatures, the cathode impregnated with Ba
$_{\text{3}}$
ScGa
$_{\text{2}}$
O
$_{\text{7.5}}$
compound has superior thermionic cathode properties and promising applications in vacuum electron devices.