Capacitance variations of a Nanocapacitor in the Field Emission Regime

The electronic transport properties and mechanical forces between two metallic electrodes separated by a nanometer-sized vacuum gap have been studied using a Scanning Tunnelling Microscope combined with a Tuning Fork Force sensor. When applying a voltage difference to the electrodes above their work function energy, the Field Emission regime can be acceded at which Field Emission Resonances take place. Under these circumstances a decrease of the capacitance has been found to occur showing a new mechanism of capacitor leaking in the quantum regime.