Double layer formation due to current injection

It is shown by numerical simulations that enhanced current density can generate double layers, even when the electron drift speed is significantly below the electron thermal speed. The double layer potential is spontaneously produced by the space charge self-consistently developed inside the simulation domain. The particle influxes from the low-potential boundary of our simulation domain are independent of the outfluxes. The potential difference φ₀ is shown increase with increasing number density of the injection current. Strong double layers with potential energy eφ₀ ≫ kT₀ (the electron thermal energy) are stably formed when the injection electron current much exceeds the thermal current of ambient electrons. The backscattered and mirrored electrons are found to have stabilizing effects on the current-driven double layers.