The extracted field emission current can be used to controllably heat microfabricated cold field emission cathode tips. The heating can be sufficient to smooth and recrystallize the tip surface by surface self-diffusion, and at least partially clean the surface of contaminants by thermal desorption. Self-heating not only allows for the achievement and maintenance of stable emission characteristics, but can be used to make the current-voltage characteristics of microfabricated field emitter tips nearly identical to one another. The resulting improvement in emission uniformity will allow for more reliable array operation at increased electron emission current densities.