Physics of high-intensity nanosecond electron source: Charge limit phenomenon in GaAs photocathodes

GaAs negative electron affinity cathodes are used as high-intensity, short-time electron source at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. When the cathodes are illuminated with high-intensity laser pulses draw peak currents that are extremely high, typically of tens of Amperes. Because of the high currents, some nonlinear effects are present. Very noticeable is the so-called charge limit (CL) effect, which consists of a limit on the total charge in each pulse; that is, the total bunch charge stops increasing as the light pulse intensity increases. The CL effect is directly related to a photovoltage built up in the surface as a consequence of the photoelectrons coming from the bulk. We discuss possible ways to minimize the formation of the surface photovoltage. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.