Photoemission characteristics of transmission-mode negative electron affinity GaAs and (ln,Ga)As vapor-grown structures

Several types of transmission-mode negative electron affinity (NEA) photocathodes were investigated. The first group consisted of GaAs cathodes of various thicknesses grown on a composite structure composed of a GaP substrate and a Ga(As,P) buffer layer. These cathodes were of two types, one having an abrupt Ga(As,P)/GaAs interface and the other having a compositionally graded interface. The latter type exhibited the highest transmission-mode quantum efficiency, 0.11 electron per incident photon at 0.85 μm. It is assumed that the electron diffusion length L in the GaAs layer is limited by misfit dislocations arising from the lattice mismatch between the GaAs and the Ga(As,P) buffer layer. L increased with cathode layer thickness more rapidly for the graded structure, suggesting that misfit dislocation propagation into the GaAs layer is less when the dislocations are generated gradually (graded structure) than when they are introduced abruptly (ungraded structure). The second group of samples consisted of (In, Ga)As alloy cathodes of various compositions grown on both GaAs and GaP substrates with lattice-mismatch-reducing buffer layers of (In, Ga)As, (In, Ga)P, and Ga(As,P). It was found that photosensitivity was improved significantly by reducing the amount of lattice mismatch between the (In, Ga)As cathode layer and the substrate or buffer layer. Using an (In, Ga)As cathode with an (In,Ga)P buffer layer grown on a GaP substrate, transmission quantum efficiencies in excess of 0.01 were obtained over the relatively broad wavelength range of 0.7 to 1.04 µm.