Photoelectric effect

First observed in 1887 by Hertz that

electrodes illuminated with UV rays
create electric sparks more easily
In 1905, Albert Einstein published a
paper that explained experimental data
from the photoelectric effect as being
the result of light energy being carried
in discrete quantized packets.
In 1914, Robert Millikan's experiment
confirmed Einstein's law on
photoelectric effect

Fig.1 Albert Einstein

What is Photoelectric effect?

Many metals emit electrons when illuminated by light
These electromagnetic waves (photons) provide enough energy to set electrons free from attractive forces by nucleus
Electrons released in this manner are called photoelectrons

Fig. 2 Photoelectrons emitted due to photons striking the surface of metal

Photons: The Quanta of light

According to the Planck hypothesis,
all electromagnetic radiation is quantized and
occurs in finite "bundles" of energy which we
call photons.
The quantum of energy for a photon is not
Planck's constant h itself, but the product
of h and the frequency.
The quantization implies that a photon of blue
light of given frequency or wavelength will
always have the same size quantum of energy.

Emission mechanism
The photons of a light beam have a characteristic
energy proportional to the frequency of the light.
In the photoemission process, if an electron within
some material absorbs the energy of one photon and
acquires more energy than the work function (the
electron binding energy) of the material, it is ejected.
If the photon energy is too low, the electron is unable
to escape the material.

Early Photoelectric Effect data

Electrons ejected from a sodium metal
surface were measured as an electric current.
Finding the opposing voltage it took to stop
all the electrons gave a measure of the
maximum kinetic energy of the electrons
in electron volts.

 For a given metal, there exists a certain

minimum frequency of
incident radiation below which no
photoelectrons are emitted. This frequency
is called the threshold frequency.
Increasing the frequency of the incident
beam, keeping the number of incident
photons fixed (this would result in a
proportionate increase in energy) increases
the maximum kinetic energy of the
photoelectrons emitted.

Fig.6 Maximum kinetic energy as a function of the frequency of

light on zinc

Mathematical description
The maximum kinetic energy Kmax of an ejected electron is given by
=

where h is the Plancks constant and is the frequency of incident photon. The term is the
work function which gives the minimum energy required to remove a delocalized electron
from the surface of metal. The work function satisfies
= 0
where 0 is the threshold frequency of the metal. The maximum kinetic energy of an ejected electron is
then
= ( 0 )
Since, kinetic energy is positive we must have > 0 for photoelectric effect to occur.

Stopping potential
The relation between current and applied voltage illustrates the nature of the photoelectric effect. For
discussion, a light source illuminates a plate P, and another plate electrode Q collects any emitted electrons.
We vary the potential between P and Q and measure the current flowing in the external circuit between the
two plates.

If we apply negative potential to plate Q w.r.t plate P and gradually increase it, there comes a point where
current becomes zero. This negative potential is called stopping potential or cutoff potential
It is observed that
For a given frequency, the stopping potential is independent of its intensity.
For a given frequency of incident radiation, the stopping potential is determined by the maximum kinetic energy Kmax of electrons. If
qe is the charge on a electron and V0 is stopping potential, then work done by retarding potential in stopping the electrons if qeV0 so
we have,

0 =
since,

= ( 0 )
0 =

( 0 )

We see that stopping potential varies linearly with frequency but depends on the threshold frequency of metal

Experimental results
Above the threshold frequency, the maximum kinetic energy of the emitted photoelectron
depends on the frequency of the incident light, but is independent of the intensity of the incident
light so long as the latter is not too high.
For a given metal and frequency of incident radiation, the rate at which photoelectrons are
ejected is directly proportional to the intensity of the incident light. An increase in the intensity of
the incident beam (keeping the frequency fixed) increases the magnitude of the photoelectric
current, although the stopping voltage remains the same.
The time lag between the incidence of radiation and the emission of a photoelectron is very
small, less than 109 second.
The direction of distribution of emitted electrons peaks in the direction of polarization (the
direction of the electric field) of the incident light, if it is linearly polarized

Applications
Photomultipliers
Image sensors
Gold-leaf electroscope
Photoelectron spectroscopy
Night vision devices