All-dielectric meta-surface transmission-mode ultra-thin GaAs negative electron affinity photocathode

Transmission-mode (t-mode) GaAs negative electron affinity photocathodes (NEA-PCs) can be integrated with the optical focusing lenses and microchannel plates to produce high-quality electron beams and high-sensitive detectors. Quantum efficiency (QE) of ∼40% has been reported for the t-mode thick (>1000 nm) GaAs NEA-PCs. Nevertheless, practical applications of these devices have been seriously restricted by their long response time (tens of picoseconds). In this work, the all-dielectric meta-surfaces (ADMS) were designed as the light managers for the t-mode ultra-thin GaAs NEA-PCs. For the 500–850 nm waveband, high light absorption (>80%) can be obtained through coupling the electromagnetic dipole moments of ADMS into the leaky optical modes in 100 nm ultra-thin GaAs NEA-PC layer, which leads to enhanced QE higher than that of the thick ones, the response time less than 5 ps, and the mean transverse energy less than 60 meV, respectively. Given these properties, ADMS t-model ultra-thin NEA-PCs represent a promising photocathode to provide the high-brightness short-pulse spin-polarized electron beams and high-sensitive fast-response detectors for the electron accelerator and low-light-level photodetection applications, respectively.