Abstract
We reexamine the processes involved in a current flowing from a photocathode, through a gas, to a collector at a positive voltage. The current is determined by the electrons being scattered back to the photocathode as well as by the transport through the gas. We find that the current, as a function of gas pressure and applied electric field, is reasonably well described by Thomson's equation if the velocities of the electrons are correctly defined and the measured scattering cross sections are used. At low pressures, the relevant electron energy is the emitted energy from the photocathode, as suggested by Loeb [The Kinetic Theory of Gases (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1934), p. 625]. At high pressures, the electrons that return to the photocathode are thermalized; while in the gas, the electrons have an extra energy from the electric field.
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