English

Transient Work Function Gating: A New Photoemission Regime

Applied Physics 2020-08-26 v1 Accelerator Physics Optics Quantum Physics

Abstract

We present the theoretical basis for a new photoemission regime, transient work function gating (TWFG), that temporally and energetically gates photoemission and produces near-threshold photoelectrons with thermally limited emittance, percent-level quantum efficiency, and control over temporal coherence. The technique consists of actively gating the work function of a generalized photocathode using non-ionizing long-wavelength optical field to produce an adiabatic modulation of the carrier density at their surface. We examine TWFG as a means to circumvent the long-standing trade-off between low emittance and high quantum efficiency, untethered to particle source or photocathode specifics. TWFG promises new opportunities in photoemission physics for next generation electron and accelerator-based x-ray photon sources.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2006.01950,
  title  = {Transient Work Function Gating: A New Photoemission Regime},
  author = {Sergio Carbajo},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2006.01950},
  year   = {2020}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-23T16:00:39.280Z