Abstract
Femtosecond ultrabright cathodes with spatially structured emission are a critical technology for applications such as free-electron lasers, tabletop coherent x-ray sources, and ultrafast imaging. In this work, the optimization of the total electron yield of ultrafast photon-triggered field emission cathodes composed of arrays of nanosharp, high-aspect-ratio, single-crystal silicon pillars is explored through the variation of the emitter pitch and height. Arrays of 6 nm tip radius silicon emitters with emitter densities between 1.2 and 73.9 million tips cm−2 (hexagonally packed arrays with emitter pitch between 1.25 and 10 μm) and emitter height between 2.0 and 8.5 μm were characterized using 35 fs 800 nm laser pulses. Three-photon electron emission for low-energy (<0.3 μJ) light pulses and strong-field emission for high-energy (>1 μJ) light pulses was observed, in agreement with the literature. Of the devices tested, the arrays with emitter pitch equal to 2.5 μm produced the highest total electron yield; arrays with larger emitter pitch suffer area sub-utilization, and in devices with smaller emitter pitch the larger emitter density does not compensate the smaller per-emitter current due to the electric field shadowing that results from the proximity of the adjacent tips. Experimental data and simulations suggest that 2 μm tall emitters achieve practical optimal performance as shorter emitters have visibly smaller field factors due to the proximity of the emitter tip to the substrate, and taller emitters show marginal improvement in the electron yield at the expense of greater fabrication difficulty.
Highlights
IntroductionState-of-the-art ultrafast cathodes are flat surfaces coated with highly reactive, low-workfunction materials that produce electrons through a single-photon absorption process of ultraviolet light pulses
We recently reported batch-fabricated photon-triggered field emission cathodes composed of massively multiplexed (>100 000 tips, 4.6 million tips cm−2), uniform (
Through experiment and simulations, the optimization of the total electron yield of ultrafast photon-triggered field emission cathodes composed of arrays of nanosharp, high-aspect-ratio, single-crystal silicon pillars is explored through the variation of the emitter pitch and height
Summary
State-of-the-art ultrafast cathodes are flat surfaces coated with highly reactive, low-workfunction materials that produce electrons through a single-photon absorption process of ultraviolet light pulses. These devices have several disadvantages including (i) they need to be fabricated, stored, and operated in ultra-high vacuum, and (ii) producing high current pulses reduces their lifetime due to the rapid degradation of the low workfunction material [4]. Through experiment and simulations, the optimization of the total electron yield of ultrafast photon-triggered field emission cathodes composed of arrays of nanosharp, high-aspect-ratio, single-crystal silicon pillars is explored through the variation of the emitter pitch and height
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.