Revised Fowler-Dubridge model for photoelectron emission from two-dimensional materials

Abstract

We revise the Fowler-Dubridge (FB) model for photoelectron emission from two-dimensional (2D) materials to include the effects of reduced dimensionality, non-parabolic and anisotropic energy dispersion of 2D materials. Two different directions of electron emission are studied, namely vertical emission from the surface and lateral emission from the edge. Our analytical model reveals a universal temperature scaling of T\b{eta} with \b{eta} = 1 and \b{eta} = 3/2, respectively, for the surface and edge emission over a wide class of 2D materials, which are distinct from the traditional scaling of \b{eta} = 2 originally derived for the traditional bulk materials. Our comparison shows good agreement to two experiments of photo-electron emitted from graphene for both surface and edge emission. Our calculations also show the photoelectron emission is more pronounced than the coexisting thermionic emission for materials with low temperature and Fermi energy. This model provides helpful guidance in choosing proper combinations of light intensity, temperature range and type of 2D materials for the design of photoemitters, photodetectors and other optoelectronicsComment: 6 pages, 4 figure