Excitation of the Anode Effect

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Abstract
The accumulation of charges in the anode effect has been studied, and possible interpretations of the observed phenomena are suggested. The effects observed here are ascribed to a surface consisting of thorium on oxygen on nickel. For the purpose of making the analysis quantitative, an order of magnitude for the thickness of the film has been assumed and an arbitrary definition of electron capture has been introduced. Computations on this basis indicate that the probability of electron capture is surprisingly high. Although the quantitative interpretation must be considered tentative, some of the facts concerning the accumulation of the charge appear to be quite well established by the evidence. The likelihood of trapping an electron incident on the surface is relatively large when it has an energy corresponding to a few volts, and this likelihood falls at first slowly and then more rapidly as the energy of the incident electron is increased. The probability of electron capture falls rapidly as the temperature of the surface is raised. The electrons are trapped in states from which they escape at very different rates, and the states of short average life are especially numerous. When an equilibrium state is disturbed either by increasing or decreasing the current to the surface, the rate of contact potential shift is at first relatively rapid and it decreases very much as a new equilibrium is approached.

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