Photoemission from activated gallium arsenide. II. Spin polarization versus kinetic energy analysis

Abstract

The spin polarization of the electrons emitted by a GaAs photocathode under circularly polarized light excitation is investigated as a function of the electron kinetic energy. The photocathode is activated by cesium and oxygen coadsorption under ultrahigh-vacuum conditions to achieve a negative electron affinity. The spin polarization is measured by Mott scattering. The study is performed with a very-high-energy resolution (20 meV), at 300 and 120 K, under well-focused ${\mathrm{Kr}}^{+}$-laser light excitation (photon energy ranging from 1.55 to 2.60 eV). The polarization-versus-energy distribution curves show typical features related to those observed in the energy distribution curves, which are analyzed in detail in the preceding paper [H.-J. Drouhin, C. Hermann, and G. Lampel, Phys. Rev. B 31, 3859 (1985)]. A model is developed to account for the largest measured polarization, which arises from electrons excited from the heavy-hole band and emitted without suffering any collision: A (2/3) maximum value is expected, which is reduced by spin precession in the internal D’yakonov and Perel’ (DP) field, due to the absence of space-inversion symmetry in GaAs. An estimation of the hot-electron mean free path (∼0.1 μm for photon energy above 1.96 eV) is deduced. The photoemission polarizations of the electrons excited from each of the two other valence bands are also calculated using a nonparabolic Kane band model. The L and X subsidiary minima give rise to polarization plateaus originating from energy relaxation in the band-bending region. The main contribution to the photocurrent is due to electrons which were thermalized in the central minimum of the bulk crystal and have relaxed their energy in the band-bending region prior to emission into vacuum. Their polarization is studied in relation with the luminescence polarization, measured on the same samples, in the framework of a one-dimensional diffusion model. An additional depolarization, occurring during the escape process, is evidenced and attributed to the DP relaxation mechanism in the band-bending region. Finally, the performances of GaAs photocathodes as monochromatic and polarized electron sources are analyzed with use of the physical concepts developed in the present paper and in the preceding one.