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proceedings of accelerator conferences held around the world
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| URL | https://doi.org/10.18429/JACoW-NAPAC2025-WEP055 |
|---|---|
| Title | Light-induced enhancement of quantum efficiency in III-nitride photocathodes |
| Authors |
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| Abstract | High quantum efficiency (QE) semiconductor photocathodes are essential for generating high average beam current and brightness. One class of semiconductor photocathodes considered for use in photoinjectors for unpolarized and polarized electron beams are III-nitride heterostructures. These materials can exhibit negative electron affinity at the surface, utilizing intrinsic polarization fields to engineer the band structure without the need for additional surface treatments. In this study, we investigate the effects of light exposure on the surface of III-nitride photocathodes and the resulting changes in QE and photoemission, using photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) for characterization. We demonstrate that exposing a GaN photocathode to a 240 nm wavelength laser at 870 µW for 15 minutes increases the QE by two orders of magnitude, with a maximum QE of 2.34 × 10⁻⁴ observed. Although III-nitride photocathodes are known for their robustness, our findings indicate that laser exposure can significantly alter their QE. Our observations reveal the need for a detailed investigation of photo-induced effects on QE in III-Nitride photocathodes. |
| Paper | download: WEP055.pdf |
| Cite | BibTeX, LaTeX, Text/Word, RIS, EndNote |
| Conference | 6th North American Particle Accel. Conf. (NAPAC2025) |
| Series | |
| Location | Sacramento, CA, USA |
| Date | 10-15 Aug 2025 |
| Publisher | JACoW Publishing, Geneva, Switzerland |
| Editorial Board | Tor O. Raubenheimer (SLAC), Roark A. Marsh (LLNL), Eric Prebys (UC Davis), Ling Wang (MSU), Petr M. Anisimov (LANL), Kip Bishofberger (LANL), Gustavo Bruno (ANL), Zhichu Chen (SARI), Jan Chrin (PSI), Kelly Jaje (ANL), Jaeyu Lee (POSTECH), Magdalena Montes-Loera (SLAC), Mary Saethre (PHENOTYPE), Tasha Summers (SLAC), Kent Wootton (ANL) |
| Online ISBN | 978-3-95450-261-5 |
| Online ISSN | 2673-7000 |
| Received | 08 August 2025 |
| Revised | 14 August 2025 |
| Accepted | 15 August 2025 |
| Issued | 28 January 2026 |
| DOI | 10.18429/JACoW-NAPAC2025-WEP055 |
| Pages | 786-788 |
| Copyright | Published by JACoW Publishing under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s), the published article's title, publisher, and DOI. |