Status Report of GaN photocathode

Particle accelerators are always looking for new materials which can promise high quantum efficiency, a long lifetime and good vacuum stability, fast response time and low thermal emittance. Semiconductors such as GaN as novel materials for photocathodes are showing an enormous potential.
Activated with a thin alkali metal layer, like caesium (Cs), p-GaN has the ability to lower the surface work function to produce a negative electron affinity (NEA). Requirements on the instrumentation is to avoid any oxygen contamination before, during and after the activation with caesium, so the activation process takes place in a UHV chamber.
At the beginning of 2020 the first activation of GaN on sapphire substrate was successfully done and meanwhile more activations could be implemented. The activation process is influenced by many parameters like Cs-flux, heat-cleaning temperature, conductivity, anode material, vacuum and the substrate. All of these parameters have an influence on the photocathodes quality and its lifetime, which are studied and compared.