Record Details
Surface effects in photoemmission from sodium
ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Surface effects in photoemmission from sodium |
| Names |
Whitefield, Rodney Joe
(creator) Brady, James J. (advisor) |
| Date Issued | 1970-02-26 (iso8601) |
| Note | Graduation date: 1970 |
| Abstract | An investigation was made of the photoelectric emission from sodium and the alteration in the emission produced by sulfur deposited onto a sodium surface. Measurements were made at the temperature of liquid nitrogen for photon energies between 2.0 ev and 4.5 ev. The sodium was investigated in the form of films produced by vacuum deposition at pressures in the low 10⁻¹⁰ Torr range. The amounts of sodium and sulfur deposited were determined using a quartz oscillator microbalance. Results obtained for the photoemissive yield from sodium were interpreted as indicating a work function of approximately 2.75 ev. The threshold dependence of this emission was not fit by the Fowler theory. Sodium surfaces on which sulfur had been deposited exhibited altered work functions and a different threshold dependence. The alteration of the emission was studied as a function of the amount of sulfur deposited. Threshold reductions to about 2.0 ev were obtained. The emission also exhibited a yield maximum at an energy which was altered by sulfur deposited on the surface. The behavior of this yield maximum as sulfur was deposited, and its location for uncontaminated surfaces, allowed the origin of the maximum to be attributed to the surface plasmon. |
| Genre | Thesis/Dissertation |
| Topic | Photoelectricity |
| Identifier | http://hdl.handle.net/1957/45763 |
