Irving Ames

Anomalous photoelectric emission from nickel

The photoelectric emission from a nickel ribbon has been observed as a function of temperature from 25° to 760°C, over a wavelength range from 2250 to 2530 A, qualitatively confirming and extending Cardwells earlier work. The yield increases with temperature at all wavelengths, with an upward bulge near the Curie point. Fowler-Dubridge analyses of the emission from the front face of the ribbon, which is found to contain mainly (111) facets after extensive outgassing, yield values of the work function ranging from about 5.07 ev at 25°C to about 5.20 ev at 760°C. Behavior below the Curie point may be consistent with the magnetization-squared dependence recently suggested by Wonssowski, et al.