The influence has been studied of the ionization laser polarization on the
effective temperature of an ultracold electron source, which is based on
near-threshold photoionization. This source is capable of producing both
high-intensity and high-coherence electron pulses, with applications in for
example electron diffraction experiments. For both nanosecond and femtosecond
photoionization, a sinusoidal dependence of the temperature on polarization
angle has been found. For most experimental conditions, the temperature is
minimal when the polarization coincides with the direction of acceleration.
However, surprisingly, for nanosecond ionization a regime exists when the
temperature is minimal when the polarization is perpendicular to the
acceleration direction. This shows that in order to create electron bunches
with the highest transverse coherence length, it is important to control the
polarization of the ionization laser. The general trends and magnitudes of the
temperature measurements are described by a model, based on the analysis of
classical electron trajectories; this model further deepens our understanding
of the internal mechanisms during the photoionization process. Furthermore, for
nanosecond ionization, charge oscillations as a function of laser polarization
have been observed; for most situations the oscillation amplitude is small
