Photoemission lifetime of a negative electron affinity gallium nitride photocathode

A photocathode electron source using p-type GaN semiconductor with a negative electron affinity (NEA) surface has been studied for its ability to maintain an extended NEA state. The key technology of NEA photocathodes is the formation of electric dipoles by cesium and gallium atoms on the surface, which makes it possible for photoexcited electrons in the conduction band minimum to escape into the vacuum. This means that in order to keep the electron energy spread as small as possible, the excitation photon energy should be tuned to the band gap energy. However, the NEA surface is damaged by the adsorption of residual gas and the back-bombardment of ionized residual gas by photoelectrons. The p-type GaN semiconductor was measured time evolution in quantum yield during NEA surface activation, and a lifetime of quantum yield of excitation energy corresponding to the band gap energy in comparison to the p-type GaAs as the conventional NEA photocathode. In NEA surface activation process, the quantum yield of the GaN was more than 3 orders of magnitude higher than that of the GaAs by only cesium deposition. The exposure amount of cesium in the NEA surface activation of the GaAs was 1.5 times as that of the GaN, even though the quantum yield of the GaAs was the same value as the GaN. Lifetime of NEA-photocathodes using the GaN was 21 times longer than that using the GaAs. The decrease of quantum yield of the GaAs was well correlated in the form of the exponential decrease function with a decrease time of 4.4 h, while the decrease of quantum yield of the GaN was well correlated in the form of the exponential decrease function with two decrease times of 47 and 174 h. (C) 2014 American Vacuum Society.