TY - JOUR

T1 - Photoemission and photon-enhanced thermionic emission

T2 - Effect of jump in electron mass

AU - Alperovich, V. L.

AU - Kazantsev, D. M.

AU - Zhuravlev, A. G.

AU - Shvartsman, L. D.

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project no. 20-02-00355). The authors are grateful to D.E. Protopopov and V.S. Khoroshilov for their participation in measuring and processing the photoemission quantum yield spectra of GaAs(Cs,O). Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier B.V. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/9/30

Y1 - 2021/9/30

N2 - The effect of jump in electron mass on the electron transfer through interfaces with positive and negative potential steps is considered in relation with practically important photoemission and photon-enhanced thermionic emission from semiconductors with positive and negative effective electron affinities. For a zero potential step, a direct similarity is established between the expressions for electron reflection and transmission and Fresnel equations for p-polarized light, with the ratio of masses replacing the ratio of dielectric constants. For non-zero potential steps of both signs, due to the jump in mass, there are critical electron energies that separate the energy regions with qualitatively different angular dependences of the transmission coefficient. The influence of the jump in mass on the spectra of photoemission quantum yield, which are measured experimentally under transition from negative to positive electron affinity at the p-GaAs(Cs,O)-vacuum interface, is considered. It is shown that, for a decisive proof of the jump-in-mass contribution to the electron transfer through semiconductor-vacuum interface, measuring the energy and angular distributions at the state of positive electron affinity is more advantageous, as compared to the state of negative electron affinity.

AB - The effect of jump in electron mass on the electron transfer through interfaces with positive and negative potential steps is considered in relation with practically important photoemission and photon-enhanced thermionic emission from semiconductors with positive and negative effective electron affinities. For a zero potential step, a direct similarity is established between the expressions for electron reflection and transmission and Fresnel equations for p-polarized light, with the ratio of masses replacing the ratio of dielectric constants. For non-zero potential steps of both signs, due to the jump in mass, there are critical electron energies that separate the energy regions with qualitatively different angular dependences of the transmission coefficient. The influence of the jump in mass on the spectra of photoemission quantum yield, which are measured experimentally under transition from negative to positive electron affinity at the p-GaAs(Cs,O)-vacuum interface, is considered. It is shown that, for a decisive proof of the jump-in-mass contribution to the electron transfer through semiconductor-vacuum interface, measuring the energy and angular distributions at the state of positive electron affinity is more advantageous, as compared to the state of negative electron affinity.

KW - Electron affinity

KW - Jump in mass

KW - Photoemission

KW - Photon-enhanced thermionic emission

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85106239727&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.apsusc.2021.149987

DO - 10.1016/j.apsusc.2021.149987

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85106239727

VL - 561

JO - Applied Surface Science

JF - Applied Surface Science

SN - 0169-4332

M1 - 149987

ER -