Source of spin polarized electrons
OwnerDaniel Thornton Pierce, Felix Andrea Meier +1inventors
InventorsDaniel Thornton Pierce, Felix Andrea Meier, Hans-Christoph Siegmann
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Abstract
The invention concerns a method of producing intense beams of polarized free electrons in which a semiconductor with a spin orbit split valence band and negative electron affinity is used as a photocathode and irradiated with circularly polarized light.
Claims9
A source of spin polarized electrons comprising in combination a semiconductor photocathode, said semiconductor having a spin orbit split valence band and a lowered vacuum level, and a source of circularly polarized light, said light irradiating said photocathode to achieve photoemission of the electrons.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.