Susanne Schubert

Bi-alkali antimonide photocathodes for high brightness accelerators

Alkali-antimonide photocathodes were grown on Si(100) and studied by means of XPS and UHV-AFM to validate the growth procedure and morphology of this material. The elements were evaporated sequentially at elevated substrate temperatures (first Sb, second K, third Cs). The generated intermediate K-Sb compound itself is a photocathode and the composition of K2.4Sb is close to the favored K3Sb stoichiometry. After cesium deposition, the surface layer is cesium enriched. The determined rms roughness of 25 nm results in a roughness domination of the emittance in the photoinjector already above 3 MV/m.

Direct observation of bi-alkali antimonide photocathodes growth via in operando x-ray diffraction studies

Alkali antimonides have a long history as visible-light-sensitive photocathodes. This work focuses on the process of fabrication of the bi-alkali photocathodes, K2CsSb. In-situ synchrotron x-ray diffraction and photoresponse measurements were used to monitor phase evolution during sequential photocathode growth mode on Si(100) substrates. The amorphous-to-crystalline transition for the initial antimony layer was observed at a film thickness of 40 A . The antimony crystalline structure dissolved upon potassium deposition, eventually recrystallizing upon further deposition into K-Sb crystalline modifications. This transition, as well as the conversion of potassium antimonide to K2CsSb upon cesium deposition, is correlated with changes in the quantum efficiency.

Bi-alkali antimonide photocathode growth: An X-ray diffraction study

Bi-alkali antimonide photocathodes are one of the best known sources of electrons for high current and/or high bunch charge applications like Energy Recovery Linacs or Free Electron Lasers. Despite their high quantum efficiency in visible light and low intrinsic emittance, the surface roughness of these photocathodes prohibits their use as low emittance cathodes in high accelerating gradient superconducting and normal conducting radio frequency photoguns and limits the minimum possible intrinsic emittance near the threshold. Also, the growth process for these materials is largely based on recipes obtained by trial and error and is very unreliable. In this paper, using X-ray diffraction, we investigate the different structural and chemical changes that take place during the growth process of the bi-alkali antimonide material K2CsSb. Our measurements give us a deeper understanding of the growth process of alkali-antimonide photocathodes allowing us to optimize it with the goal of minimizing the surface roughness to preserve the intrinsic emittance at high electric fields and increasing its reproducibility.

Study of bi-alkali photocathode growth on glass by X-ray techniques for fast timing response photomultipliers

Bi-alkali antimonide photocathode is an essential component in fast timing response photomultipliers. Real-time in-situ grazing incidence x-ray diffraction and post-growth x-ray reflectivity measurement were performed to study the photocathode deposition process on glass substrate. Grazing incidence x-ray diffraction patterns show the formation of Sb crystalline, dissolution of crystalline phase Sb by the application of K vapor and reformation of refined crystal textures. XRR result exhibits that the film thickness increases ~ 4.5 times after K diffusion and almost have no change after Cs diffusion. Further investigation is expected to understand the photocathode growth process and provide guidelines for photocathode development.

In-situ synchrotron x-ray characterization of K2CsSb photocathode grown by ternary co-evaporation

K2CsSb is a promising photocathode candidate to serve as an electron source in next-generation light sources such as Free Electron Lasers (FEL) and Energy Recovery Linacs (ERL). As the traditional recipe for creation of K2CsSb photocathodes typically results in a rough surface that deteriorates electron beam quality, significant effort has been made to explore novel growth methods for K2CsSb photocathodes. In this paper, a method of ternary co-evaporation of K, Cs, and Sb is described. By using in-situ synchrotron X-ray techniques, the quality of the photocathode is characterized during and after the growth. K2CsSb photocathodes grown by this method on Si (100) and MgO (001) substrates show strong (222) texture, and the two photocathodes exhibit 1.7% and 3.4% quantum efficiencies at a wavelength of 530 nm, with a rms surface roughness of about 2–4 nm. This represents an order of magnitude reduction in roughness compared to typical sequential deposition and should result in a significant improvement in the...

Alkali Antimonide Photocathodes in a Can

The next generation of x-ray light sources will need reliable, high quantum efficiency photocathodes. These cathodes will likely be from the alkali antimonide family, which currently holds the record for highest average current achieved from a photoinjector. In this work, we explore a new option for delivering these cathodes to a machine which requires them: use of sealed commercial vacuum tubes. Several sealed tubes have been introduced into a vacuum system and separated from their housing, exposing the active photocathode on a transport arm suitable for insertion into an injector. The separation was achieved without large loss of QE. These cathodes have been compared to those grown via traditional methods, both in terms of QE and in terms of crystalline structure, and found to be similar.