Study on a long-life photocathode with an CsBr protective layer for an rf electron gun

A photocathode with a high quantum efficiency (Q.E.) and long lifetime can be fabricated by evaporating a protective layer onto a high Q.E. semiconductor photocathode. In this study we tried to improve the stability and lifetime of a Cs-Te photocathode by coating a CsBr protective layer of 20 nm in thickness over the surface. After the protective layer was applied, we measured the Q.E. of the photocathode and the lifetime in the evaporation chamber. The Q.E. of the coated Cs-Te was confirmed to be about 0.80% and to remain unchanged for a period of longer than 25 d. The effectiveness of the protective layer against exposure of the Cs-Te photocathode to oxygen gas was also confirmed for the first time. Our experiments were the first to show a lifetime improvement of a photocathode installed inside an rf gun compared to the same type of photocathode with no protective coating.