The dust nature of micro field emitters in accelerators

Field emission currents emitted by micro-emitters are a limiting factor for the operational gradients of accelerating radio frequency (rf) cavities. Within the rf field emission theory the existence of needle like micro field emitters with very high length relative to the radius and corresponding high enhancement factor (β) is assumed. In this article the hypothesis that micro field emitters consists of long chains of conductive micro-particles is considered. Five different forces acting onto the particles in a high rf field are considered and the respective equations are derived. Some experimental observations and their explanation within this hypothesis are discussed.