The Distribution in Direction of Photoelectrons from Alkali Metal Surfaces

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Abstract
An experimental study of the distribution in direction of photoelectrons emitted from alkali metal surfaces irradiated by light incident at varions angles and polarized in different planes.—The alkali metal surfaces used were of two sorts: (1) liquid alloys of sodium and potassium, (2) thin films of potassium or rubidium on polished platinum. In all cases the alkali metal surface was at the center of a large spherical enclosing anode, provided either with collecting tabs at various angular positions or with an exploring finger. It is found that the emission closely obeys Lambert's law, but that the ellipse by which the emission is represented, in polar coordinates, is more elongated normally to the surface for perpendicularly incident light than for obliquely, when the direction of the electric vector is in both cases parallel to the surface, and still more elongated for obliquely incident light with the electric vector in the plane of incidence. The distribution curves are all perfectly symmetrical about the normal to the surface, showing no tendency to follow the direction of the electric vector.