PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT from a metal plate when illuminated by light or any other radiation of quency) is called photoelectric effect. The emitted electrons are ¢ emission of electron is phenomenon was experimentally verified by Hallwaches, Leonard, JJ. Thomson, R.A. Millikan \d others, Afterwards, it was discovered that alkali metals like lithium, sodium, potassium, rubid- and cesium eject electrons when visible light falls on them. Millikan investigated the effect with number of alkali metals over a wide range of light frequency and was given Nobel Prize in 1923.Evacuated Quartz Bulb Rheostat TA aoe | E thE Fic.1.3 Photoelectric effect A simple experimental arrangement to study the photoelectric effect is shown in the Fig. 1.3. The apparatus consists of two photosensitive surfaces A and B enclosed in an evacuated quartz bulb. The plate A is connected to the negative terminal of a Potential divider while the plate B is connected to the positive terminal through a galvanometer G. In the absence of any light, there is no flow of current and hence there is no deflection in the galvanometer. But when monochromatic light is allowed to fall on plate A, current starts flowing in the circuit which is indicated by galvanometer. The current is known as photo current. This shows that when light falls on the metallic surface, electrons are ejected. The number of electrons emitted and their kinetic energy depends upon the following factors: Tees ee Upon (1) The potential difference between the two electro (2) The intensity of incident radiation. (3) The frequency of incident radiation. (4) The photo metal used. des i.e. between plate A and B. 1.4.1 Characteristics of Photoelectrons (1) Effect of potential difference: For a given photo metallic surface A, keeping the intensity and frequency of the incident radiation fixed (or) constant, let us consider the effect of potential difference between the plates,Stopping Potential Photo—electric ——+ Saturation Current Vy o Potential (V) ——» Fic. 1.4 Effect of potential difference ‘The above graph shows the photoelectric current (number of emitted photoelectrons) as a func- tion of potential difference V between the two plates. When the positive potential of the plate B is increased, photoelectric current is also increased. However, if the Positive potential is further increased such that it is large enough to collect all the photoelectrons emitted from plate A, the pho- * toelectric current reaches a certain (limiting) maximum value. This value of the current is known, as saturation current Further increase in the potential hardly produces any appreciable increase in current. If the Potential difference is kept zero, it is obsérved that photoelectric current still flows in same direc- tion. This shows that the incident radiation not only provides a conducting path but in addition an electromagnetic force to photoelectrons. Ifthe potential of the plate B is made negative, the photocurrent does not immediately drop to zero but flows in the same direction as for positive potentials. This shows that the photoelectrons _ *te emitted from the plate A with a finite velocity. If the negative or retarding potential is further _ Increased, the photo current decreases and finally becomes zero at a particular value. : ‘The negative potential of the plate B at which the Photoelectric current becomes zero is called as cut off potential or stopping potential V,. Thus stopping potential is that value of the retarding potential difference between two electrodes Which is just sufficient to halt the most energetic photoelectrons emitted, 2) Effect of intensity of incident radiation; Let us consider the effect of intensity of the incident radiation, of course of the same frequency.Intensity evo V0, VB, ie Ts akve pébety be Photo Current j 9 — ; mNswearwabing ve By. Potential rere ea te CoM ORey anoel. Fi. 1.5 Effect of intensity ofincident radiation oh. ffx Uunnet 4 od Popheuder Pour Palanan? © becomes 0) Pao ‘The graph shows the variation of photo current as a function of potential difference between" the two plates for different intensities of incident radiation. If the intensity of incident radiation is increased from I to 2I and the experiment is repeated, then the photoelectric current increases in the same ratio for all positive values of V. As Vis made negative, the photoelectric current decreases sharply and reaches zero at the same value of the voltage V,, the stopping potential. Hence we conclude that: (i) The stopping potential is independent of the intensity of incident radiation and (ii) The saturation current is proportional to the intensity of incident radiation i.e., higher is the intensity of incident radiation, higher is the saturation current. (3) Effect of frequency of incident radiation: Now we shall consider the effect of var sh vying frequency of the incident radiation whi i same emitting surface and same intensit es EMER NE Servis ity of incident radiation. ‘Stopping Potential V, Fic 14 Fffart nf freuiency of incident rastaGraph shows the variation of stopping potential with frequency of incident light. Here stopping potentials are measured for different frequencies. The graph shows that at frequency ‘V,’ the stop- | ping potential is zero. The frequency ‘v,’ is known as threshold frequency and wavelength corre- _ sponding to threshold frequency is called as threshold wavelength. The photoelectric effect occurs bove this frequency while ceases below this frequency. ee Hence the threshold frequency is defined as the minimum frequency (v,) of the incident radiation which can cause photoelectric emission i.e. this frequency is just able to liberate electrons without _ giving them additional energy. 2 (4) Effect of photo metal: "Fig. 1.7 Effect of photo metal A graph between stopping potential (V,) and frequency for a number of photo metals is plot- ted. It is clear from the graph that all the lines have the same slope but their interactions with the frequency axis are different. Thus we conclude that the threshold frequency is a function of photo _ metal i.e. it depends on the nature of photo metal. Fundamental laws of photoelectric emission Following are the fundamental laws of photoelectric emission: (1) The number of electrons emitted per second ie,, intensity of incident light. Cm dha (2) For a given material, there exists a certain minimum frequency-of the incident light so that Photoelectrons can be ejected from metal surface, If the frequency is less than this frequency Photoelectric current is proportional to themetal surface however intense the incident light may no electrons can be emitted from the hold frequency and the corre- be. The minimum value of the frequencies is known as t sponding wavelength as threshold wavelength. (3) The maximum velocity or the kinetic energy of photoelectron depends on the anya yy” radiation and not on intensity. The kinetic energy of photoclectrons increases with Inc "eof frequency of incident light. © (4) ‘The rate at which the electrons are emitted from a photo cathode is independent of its tem- \ perature. This shows that photoelectric phenomenon ts entirely different from thermionic emission. UL (5) Electron emission from a photosensitive surface is almost instantancous and emission con tinues as long as the frequency of incident radiation is greater than the threshold frequency. ‘The time lag between the incident radiations and the emission of electrons is less than 10 seconds. (6) Fora given metal surface, stopping potential (V,) is directly proportional to frequency but is independent of the intensity of incident light. = ¢ 1.4.2 Einstein's photoelectric equation Following Planck's idea that light consists of photons; Einstein proposed an explanation of pho- toclectric effect in 1905. According to Einstein's explanation, in photoelectric effect one photon is completely absorbed by one electron, which thereby gains the quantum of energy and may be emitted from the metal. ‘The photon's energy is used in the following two parts: (i)_A part of its energy is used to free the electron from the atom and away from the metal sur- face. This energy is known as photoelectric work function of metal. This is denoted by W,. (ii) ‘The other part is used in giving kinetic energy (: ms’) to the electron. 2 Thus, hv=W,+ (Sm) (113) where ‘v' is the velocity of emitted electron, Equation (1.13) is known as Einstein's photoelectric equation. When the photon's energy is sufficient to liberate th ineti of the electron will be zero. Equation (1.13) eee Geta hy,= W, (14) where ¥, is called the threshold frequency. Threshold frequ i i i uency. iency is defined as the minimum fre- quency which can cause photo-electric emission. If the frequency of the photon is below threshold frequency no emission of electrons will take place.Substituting the value of W,, = hy, in equation (1.13), we have w-meneny os 2 (Baas ‘This is another form of Einstein's photoelectric equation. ‘The Einstein's photo-electric equation predicts all the experimental results. From equation (1.13) we have zm =lw-W, Fora particular emitter, work function W, is constant and hence diay! = hv 2 vav Thus the increase in frequency v of incident light causes increase in velocity of photoelectrons - provided intensity of incident light is constant. __ An increase in the intensity of radiation is equivalent to an increase in the number of photons falling on the emitting surface. If the frequency of incident radiation is above the threshold fre- quency (v> v,), then the number of emitted electrons will increase. In this way the intensity of emit- ted electrons is directly proportional to the intensity of incident radiation, From Equation (1.15), we have tiny? = hv—hy, 2 If V, is stopping potential, then eV, =hv—hy, vy =u ve (1.16) e. €