As an alternative for thoriated tungsten thermionic cathodes, molybdenum doped with either a single rare earth oxide such as La2O3, Y2O3 and Sc2O3 or a mixture thereof has been produced by powder metallurgy. It is shown that carbonization can greatly improve the emission properties (i.e. emission capability and stability) of RE2O3 doped molybdenum due to the formation of a (metallic) rare earth atomic layer on the surface of the cathode by the reduction reaction of molybdenum carbide and rare earth oxide. Among all the carbonized samples, La2O3 and Y2O3 co-doped molybdenum cathode showed the best performance in emission. In addition, computer pattern recognition technique has been used to optimize the composition of the material and of the cathode preparation technique. We derive the equation of the emission efficiency as a function of cathode composition and carbonization degree. Based on the projecting coordinates obtained from the equation, the optimum projection region was identified, which can serve as guide for the composition and carbonization degree design. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.