Intense surface photoemission: Space charge effects and self-acceleration

Ultraviolet laser irradiation of surfaces, in the course of photoemission or surface photochemical studies, often produce copious electron emission, up to 1000’s of A/cm2. The time‐dependent fields produced by these electrons accelerate some of the electrons up to 5.4 times their initial energies. The steady‐state fields return most of the emitted electrons to the surface. We discuss and illustrate both phenomena with theoretical simulations and experiment, and discuss possible implications.