K. P. Mondal, M. Gaowei, E. Echeverria, K. Evans-Lutterodt, J. Jordan-Sweet, T. Juffmann, S. Karkare, J. Maxson, S. J. van der Molen, C. Pennington, P. Saha, J. Smedley, W. G. Stam and R. M. Tromp.
Scientific Reports (2025), DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-87602-7
Abstract:
The development of high-brightness electron sources is critical to state-of-the-art electron accelerator applications like X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) and ultra-fast electron microscopy. Cesium telluride is chosen as the electron source material for multiple cutting-edge XFEL facilities worldwide. This manuscript presents the first demonstration of the growth of highly crystalized and epitaxial cesium telluride thin films on 4H-SiC and graphene/4H-SiC substrates with ultrasmooth film surfaces. The ordering of the film was characterized by in situ reflection high energy electron diffraction and multiple X-ray diagnostics. The results of the quantum efficiency performance for epitaxial cesium telluride photocathodes are also reported.
