A polarization study of strained GaAs photocathode structures

The polarized electron source at SLAC has performed extremely well during recent years supplying electrons having a spin polarization of 78% (85%) for high (low) current operation with beam current limited primarily by experimental requirements. However, there is room for improvement in the electron polarization. The less-than-ideal polarizations are a result of both imperfections and depolarizing mechanisms within the photocathode. The structure of the photocathode used at SLAC in the polarized electron source is a single-strained emitting layer structure grown atop a GaAs substrate. Here, the properties of several types of strained GaAs and GaAsP photocathodes have been studied using x-ray diffraction and photoemission