The QE numerical simulation of PEAsemiconductor photocathode

Several kinds of models have already been proposed to explain the photoemission process. The exact photoemission theory of the semiconductor photocathode was not well established after decades of research. In this paper an integral equation of quantum efficiency (QE) is constructed to describe the photoemission of positive electron affinity (PEA) of the semiconductor photocathode based on the three-step photoemission model. Various factors (e.g., forbidden band gap, electron affinity, photon energy, incident angle, degree of polarization, refractive index, extinction coefficient, initial and final electron energy, relaxation time, external electric field and so on) have an impact on the QE of the PEA semiconductor photocathode, which are entirely expressed in the QE equation. In addition, a simulation code is also programmed to calculate the QE of the K₂CsSb photocathode theoretically at 532 nm wavelength. By and large, the result is in line with the expected experimental value. The reasons leading to the distinction between the experimental and theoretical QE are discussed.

The QE numerical simulation of PEA semiconductor photocathode