Secondary electron emission and photoemission from a negative electron affinity semiconductor with large mean escape depth of excited electrons

The formulae for parameters of a negative electron affinity semiconductor(NEAS)with large mean escape depth of secondary electrons A(NEASLD)are deduced.The methods for obtaining parameters such asλ,B,E_(pom)and the maximumδandδat 100.0 keV≥E_(po)≥1.0 keV of a NEASLD with the deduced formulae are presented(B is the probability that an internal secondary electron escapes into the vacuum upon reaching the emission surface of the emitter,δis the secondary electron yield,E_(po)is the incident energy of primary electrons and E_(pom)is the E_(po)corresponding to the maximumδ).The parameters obtained here are analyzed,and it can be concluded that several parameters of NEASLDs obtained by the methods presented here agree with those obtained by other authors.The relation between the secondary electron emission and photoemission from a NEAS with large mean escape depth of excited electrons is investigated,and it is concluded that the presented method of obtaining A is more accurate than that of obtaining the corresponding parameter for a NEAS with largeλ_(ph)(λ_(ph)being the mean escape depth of photoelectrons),and that the presented method of calculating B at E_(po)>10.0 keV is more widely applicable for obtaining the corresponding parameters for a NEAS with largeλ_(ph).

Comparison of the photoemission behaviour between negative electron affinity GaAs and GaN photocathodes

In view of the important application of GaAs and GaN photocathodes in electron sources, differences in photoe- mission behaviour, namely the activation process and quantum yield decay, between the two typical types of III-V compound photocathodes have been investigated using a multi-information measurement system. The activation exper- iment shows that a surface negative electron affinity state for the GaAs photocathode can be achieved by the necessary Cs-O two-step activation and by Cs activation alone for the GaN photocathode. In addition, a quantum yield decay experiment shows that the GaN photocathode exhibits better stability and a longer lifetime in a demountable vacuum system than the GaAs photocathode. The results mean that GaN photocathodes are more promising candidates for electron source emitter use in comparison with GaAs photocathodes.

PHOTOEMISSION STABILITY OF MULTIALKALI PHOTOCATHODES WITH NEGATIVE ELECTRON AFFINITY

In this paper a negative electron affinity （NEA） multialkali photocathode of （Na2KSb-Cs）-O-Cs structure is fabricated by new technology. It is found that its emission stability is much better than that of the NEA GaAs photocathode, but is inferior to that of the conventional Na2KSb（Cs）. After 70 hour performance in a pumping vacuum system, the emission sensitivity of the NEA （Na2KSb-Cs）-O-Cs photocathode drops only by 2.5%. The emission stability is closely related to the states of the activation cesium and oxygen during activation, best results being obtained with cesium ions and excited oxygen. Furthermore, better photoemission sensitivity and emission stability may be obtained if the cathode is illuminated by intense white light during the activation process. The performance of the NEA （Na2KSb-Cs）-O-Cs cathode which has not been illuminated by intense white light during activation may be improved by the illumination even during operation intermission.

Thin film micro-scaled cold cathode structures of undoped and Si-doped AlN grown on SiC substrate with low turn-on voltage

The field emission characteristics of the AlN thin films with micro-scaled cold cathode structures are tested in the high vacuum system. The aluminum nitride （A1N） thin films with a thickness of about 100 nm are prepared on the n-type 6H-SiC （0001） substrate at 1100℃ by metal organic chemical vapor deposition （MOCVD） under low pressure. The I-V curves and surface micro-images of undoped and Si-doped AlN films are investigated. From the I-V and Fowler-Nordheim plots, it can be seen that the Si-doped AlN shows better field emission characteristics compared with the undoped AlN sample. The obtained turn-on field is 6.7 V/μm and the maximum emission current density is 154 mA/cm2 at 69.3 V for the Si- doped AlN film cathode after proper surface treatment. It is proposed that the relatively low electric resistivity of Si-doped AlN films is significant for electron migration to the surface region, and their rougher surface morphology is beneficial to a higher local electric field enhancement for the field emission.

Influence of cesium on the stability of a GaAs photocathode

The stability of a reflection-mode GaAs photocathode has been investigated by monitoring the photocurrent and the spectral response at room temperature. We observe the photocurrent of the cathode decaying with time in the vacuum system under the action of Cs current, and find that the Cs atoms residing in the vacuum system are helpful in prolonging the life of the cathode. We examine the evolution and analyse the influence of the barrier on the spectral response of the cathode. Our results support the double dipolar mode] for the explanation of the negative electron affinity effect.