Interference modulation of photoemission from biased metal cathodes driven by two lasers of the same frequency

Yi Luo,John Luginsland,Peng Zhang

doi:10.1063/5.0010792

Abstract

We propose to use two lasers of the same frequency to achieve interference modulation of photoelectron emission. Using a quantum mechanical model, we study the time-resolved photoelectron energy spectra and emission current modulation under different laser and dc fields. We find that strong interference modulation of photoemission can be easily achieved with two lasers of the same frequency, due to, on one hand, the straightforward access to the single-frequency laser pairs in experiments and, on the other hand, the low threshold value of the ratio of the laser fields for large modulation depth even with a strong dc field. Our study demonstrates the capability of using interference modulation by single-frequency laser pairs for practical measurements of time-resolved photoelectron energy spectra.

Highlights

Interference modulation of photoemission from biased metal cathodes driven by two lasers of the same frequency
Ultrafast electron emission from nanostructures driven by lasers is of large interest, due to its wide applications, such as time-resolved photoelectron microscopy,1–5 electron diffraction imaging,6–9 ultrafast electron sources,10–13 free-electron lasers,14,15 attosecond electronic devices,16–18 and emerging vacuum nanodevices
Two-color laser-induced electron emission from nanoemitters22–28 has drawn strong interest as it provides an attractive platform for modulating photoelectron emission by the relative phase difference between the two lasers

Summary

Introduction

Interference modulation of photoemission from biased metal cathodes driven by two lasers of the same frequency. We propose to utilize two lasers of the same frequency to modulate the photoelectron emission by their relative phase delay.

Results

Conclusion