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Short-pulse high-current-density photoemission in high electric fields

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6380939

We present the experimental results of photoemission studies on thin wires of gold-coated tungsten, held at surface fields in the range of 10/sup 6/ to 3 x 10/sup 8/ V/m, and illuminated by 10 ps long, 4.66 eV photon laser pulses. The wire cathodes arranged coaxially in an anode experienced a surface-field enhancement of 10/sup 2/ to 10/sup 3/ over the applied voltage. We obtained current densities exceeding 10 kA/cm/sup 2/ from a 50 ..mu..m diameter wire, from a (50 x 400) ..mu..m/sup 2/ area, under partially space-change-limited conditions. The quantum efficiency for emission-limited cases was in the range of 10/sup -5/. For these cases results using 50 ..mu..m and 4 ..mu..m diameter wires indicated linear dependence of charge density with optical energy density. The emission also scaled linearly with the emitting area. For surface fields above 3 x 10/sup 7/ V/m, a twofold enhancement of emission was observed for a tenfold increase in the field. 7 refs., 9 figs.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-76CH00016
OSTI ID:
6380939
Report Number(s):
BNL-40224; CONF-8706147-7; ON: DE87014909
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English