The Quantum Efficiency and Thermal Emittance of Metal Photocathodes
Modern electron beams have demonstrated the brilliance needed to drive free electron lasers at x-ray wavelengths, with the principle improvements occurring since the invention of the photocathode gun. The state-of-the-art normalized emittance electron beams are now becoming limited by the thermal emittance of the cathode. In both DC and RF photocathode guns, details of the cathode emission physics strongly influence the quantum efficiency and the thermal emittance. Therefore improving cathode performance is essential to increasing the brightness of beams. It is especially important to understand the fundamentals of cathode quantum efficiency and thermal emittance. This paper investigates the relationship between the quantum efficiency and the thermal emittance of metal cathodes using the Fermi-Dirac model for the electron distribution. We derive the thermal emittance and its relationship to the quantum efficiency, and compare our results to those of others.
- Research Organization:
- Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-76SF00515
- OSTI ID:
- 948833
- Report Number(s):
- SLAC-PUB-13535
- Journal Information:
- Phys.Rev.ST Accel.Beams 12:074201,2009, Journal Name: Phys.Rev.ST Accel.Beams 12:074201,2009
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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