THERMIONIC EMISSION & PHOTO ELECTRIC EFFIECT

THERMIONIC EMISSION
The phenomenon of thermionic emission was first observed by Thomas A in 1883. He observed that
electricity can supply from a filament to a metal plate within an incandescent lamp. In thermionic
emission, electrons emission can be done from heated materials which are broadly used in conventional
electron tubes as a source of electrons in the fields of electronics & communication. The best example
of this emission is, electrons can emit from a hot cathode and enter into a vacuum within a vacuum
tube. So, this article discusses an overview of thermionic emission, derivation, advantages & its
applications.

What is Thermionic Emission?

Thermionic emission definition is, when the heat energy is applied to metal then it emits electrons from
the surface of the metal and it is also known as the thermionic emission effect. The term ‘Thermionic’
can be formed from the two words namely Thermal (heat) & ions (charged particles). The thermionic
emission diagram is shown below.

What Factors Affect Thermionic Emission?

There are three factors that affect this emission like metal surface temperature, metal surface area &
the function of the metal.

The temperature of Metal Surface

When the metal surface temperature is high then the emission rate of electrons from the metal surface
is higher.

Metal Surface Area

When the metal surface area is larger, then the rate of electrons emitted from the metal surface is high.

Function of Metal
The work function of the metal is low then the rate of electrons emission from the metal surface is high.

Difference b/w Thermionic Emission and Photoelectric Effect

The difference between thermionic emission and the photoelectric effect is discussed below.

Thermionic Emission Photoelectric Effect

In photoelectric emission, light energy can be

In this emission, electrons are emitted from the emitted once electrons from the metal surface are
metal surface by supplying heat energy. emitted.

The electrons which are emitted in this is known as The electrons which are emitted in this effect are
thermions. known as photoelectrons.

In this phenomenon, ample thermal energy is

introduced to the free electrons through a heating In this phenomenon, electrons emission from the
process. So they emit from the metal surface. metal surface occurs when light energy drops on it.

The obtained energy by free electrons for their The energy toward emission electrons is being
motion & emission comes from thermal sources. supplied through light photons.

This emission can be caused by thermal energy or This emission can be caused by the electromagnetic
heat. energy of light.

The emission of electrons can be done at a specific

temperature. Electrons are emitted at threshold frequency.

When temperature increases, the rate of time for The time rate of electrons emission enhances with
electrons emission will be increased. the increase within intensity.

Therefore from the above equation, we can conclude that the maximum emission can be achieved
through two things like metals work function should be low otherwise the temperature of the surface of
metal should be high. If we achieve these two conditions, a significant no. of electrons will go away from
the valence band & jump into the vacuum.

Advantages

The advantages of Thermionic Emission include the following.

 It plays a key role in both basic physics & digital electronic technology.
  This emission discovery allows physicists to generate electrons beams within a vacuum.
Thermionic sources are not expensive, so one can easily operate in fewer vacuum conditions &
offer better brightness especially for illumination of large-area than sources of field emission.

Applications

The applications of Thermionic Emission include the following.

 It is used in different applications like high-frequency-based vacuum transistors used in

electronics, power electronics, electron guns used in scientific instrumentation, x-ray generation
& energy converters from solar energy & sources of high temperature.

 It is used in diode valves, vacuum tubes, cathode ray tubes (CRT), electron microscopes, electron
tubes, electrodynamics tethers, etc

PHOTO ELECTRIC EFFECT

The photoelectric effect is a phenomenon in which electrons are ejected from the surface of a metal
when light is incident on it. These ejected electrons are called photoelectrons. It is important to note
that the emission of photoelectrons and the kinetic energy of the ejected photoelectrons is dependent
on the frequency of the light that is incident on the metal’s surface. The process through which
photoelectrons are ejected from the surface of the metal due to the action of light is commonly referred
to as photoemission.

The photoelectric effect occurs because the electrons at the surface of the metal tend to absorb energy
from the incident light and use it to overcome the attractive forces that bind them to the metallic nuclei.
An illustration detailing the emission of photoelectrons as a result of the photoelectric effect is provided
below.
The photoelectric effect was first introduced by Wilhelm Ludwig Franz Hallwachs in the year 1887 and
the experimental verification was done by Heinrich Rudolf Hertz. They observed that when a surface is
exposed to electromagnetic radiation at a higher threshold frequency, the radiation is absorbed and the
electrons are emitted. Today, we study the photoelectric effect as a phenomenon that involves a
material absorbing electromagnetic radiation and releasing electrically charged particles.

To be more precise, light incident on the surface of a metal in the photoelectric effect causes electrons
to be ejected. The electron ejected due to the photoelectric effect is called a photoelectron and is
denoted by e–. The current produced as a result of the ejected electrons is called photoelectric current.

Explaining the Photoelectric Effect: The Concept of Photons

The photoelectric effect cannot be explained by considering light as a wave. However, this phenomenon
can be explained by the particle nature of light, in which light can be visualized as a stream of particles
of electromagnetic energy. These ‘particles’ of light are called photons. The energy held by a photon is
related to the frequency of the light via Planck’s equation:

E = h𝜈 = hc/λ

Thus, it can be understood that different frequencies of light carry photons of varying energies. For
example, the frequency of blue light is greater than that of red light (the wavelength of blue light is
much shorter than the wavelength of red light). Therefore, the energy held by a photon of blue light will
be greater than the energy held by a photon of red light.

Threshold Energy for the Photoelectric Effect

For the photoelectric effect to occur, the photons that are incident on the surface of the metal must
carry sufficient energy to overcome the attractive forces that bind the electrons to the nuclei of the
metals. The minimum amount of energy required to remove an electron from the metal is called
the threshold energy (denoted by the symbol Φ). For a photon to possess energy equal to the threshold
energy, its frequency must be equal to the threshold frequency (which is the minimum frequency of
light required for the photoelectric effect to occur). The threshold frequency is usually denoted by the
symbol 𝜈th and the associated wavelength (called the threshold wavelength) is denoted by the symbol
λth. The relationship between the threshold energy and the threshold frequency can be expressed as
follows.

Φ = h𝜈th = hc/λth

Relationship between the Frequency of the Incident Photon and the Kinetic Energy of the Emitted
Photoelectron
Therefore, the relationship between the energy of the photon and the kinetic energy of the emitted
photoelectron can be written as follows.

Ephoton = Φ + Eelectron

⇒ h𝜈 = h𝜈th + ½mev2

Where,

 Ephoton denotes the energy of the incident photon, which is equal to h𝜈

 Φ denotes the threshold energy of the metal surface, which is equal to h𝜈th

 Eelectron denotes the kinetic energy of the photoelectron, which is equal to ½mev2 (me = mass of
electron = 9.1*10-31 kg)
Electric field electron emission

Electric field electron emission is the process by which free electrons are emitted from the metal
surface when strong electric field is applied. Electric field electron emission is also called as
electron field emission, field electron emission and field emission. Electric field electron
emission occurs not only in metals, but also in liquids. Field electron emission occurs in metals
that are placed at very strong electric field. In other words, field electron emission occurs when
large amount of energy in the form of electric field is applied to the free electrons in the metals.

Electric field

Electric field is the region around a positively charged particle (proton) or negatively charged
particle (electron) within which other positively charged particle (proton) or negatively charged
particle (electron) experience an attractive or repulsive force.

Protons have positive electric field or electric charge whereas electrons have negative electric
charge. We know that two opposite charges attract each other and same charges repel each other.
Protons and electrons have opposite charges or different charges. Hence, when the electron is
placed in the electric field of a proton, it gets attracted to the proton.

On the other hand, two protons or two electrons have the same charge. Hence, when one electron
is placed in the electric field of another electron, they move away from each other. Similarly,
when one proton is placed in the electric field of another proton, they move away from each
other.

Metals in the absence of external electric field

When no external electric field is applied to the metals, electrons cannot escape from the metals.
However, some valence electrons in the metals become free from the parent atoms. Under
normal temperature, some valence electrons gain sufficient energy from the heat and break the
bonding with the parent atom. The electron, which breaks the bonding with the parent atom,
moves freely from one region to another region within the metal. These electrons are called as
free electrons.

The free electrons moving from one region to another region have some kinetic energy.
However, the free electrons do not have sufficient energy to escape from the metal surface. The
strong attractive force of the nuclei prevents the free electrons, which try to escape from the
metal. The free electrons need sufficient energy from the external electric field to overcome the
attractive force of the nuclei. The free electron, which overcomes the attractive force of the
nuclei escape easily from the metal surface.

Metals in the presence of external electric field

When a strong positive electric field is applied to the metal, the free electrons in the metal
experience an attractive force. These electrons gains extra energy from the external electric field.
If the strong electric field applied to the metal is great enough, the free electrons in the metal
gains enough energy and break the bonding with metal or overcome the attractive force from the
atomic nuclei. The free electrons which break the bonding with the metal, will jumps into the
vacuum.