An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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The → photoelectric effect in solids where free electrons are emitted from the surface of a substance (e.g., → semiconductor) when radiation of appropriate frequency falls on it. Also called → photoemissive effect.

→ external; → photoelectric; → effect.

The → photoelectric effect whereby photons absorbed by a solid (→ semiconductor) raise electrons from a lower to a higher → energy level (from → valence band to → conduction band). See also → external photoelectric effect.

→ internal; → photoelectric; → effect.

Pertaining to electronic or other electrical effects that are due to the action of electromagnetic radiation, especially visible light.

→ photo- + → electric.

The current produced in an → photoelectric effect process when → photoelectrons are received at the positive electrode.

→ photoelectric; → current.

The process of release of electrically charged particles (usually → electrons) as a result of irradiation of matter by light or other → electromagnetic radiation. The classical electromagnetic theory was unable to account for the following characteristics of the phenomenon. Light below a certain threshold frequency, no matter how intense, will not cause any electrons to be emitted. Light above that frequency, even if it is not very intense, will always cause electrons to be ejected. The electrons are ejected after some nanoseconds, independently of the light intensity. The maximum kinetic energy of the emitted electrons is a function of the frequency and does not dependent on the intensity of the incident light. The classical theory could not explain how a train of light waves spread out over a large number of atoms could, in a very short time interval, concentrate enough energy to knock a single electron out of the metal. In 1905, based on Planck's idea of → quanta, Einstein proposed that light consisted of quanta (later called → photons); that a given source could emit and absorb radiant energy only in units which are all exactly equal to the radiation frequency multiplied by a constant (→ Planck's constant); and that a photon with a frequency over a certain threshold would have sufficient energy to eject a single electron. His photoelectric equation is descibed as (1/2)mu² = hν - A, where m is the electron mass, u is the electron velocity, h is Planck's constant, ν is the frequency, and A the → work function, which represents the amount of work needed by electrons to get free of the surface. See also → photoelectron, → photoelectric current, → external photoelectric effect, → internal photoelectric effect.

→ photoelectric; → effect.

A heating process occurring in → diffuse molecular clouds which is believed to be the main heating mechanism in cool → H I regions. Far-ultraviolet (FUV) photons, in the energy range 6 eV <hν < 13.6 eV, expel electrons from → interstellar dust grains and the excess → kinetic energy of the electrons is converted into gas → thermal energy through → collisions. The high energy limit corresponds to the cut-off in the → far-ultraviolet (FUV) radiation field caused by the hydrogen absorption (hν = 13.6 eV), while the low energy limit corresponds to the energy needed to free electrons from the grains (hν ~ 6 eV). In the cold neutral medium (T_kin≥ 200 K) photoelectric heating accounts for most of the heating, the → X-ray and → cosmic ray heating rates (→ cosmic-ray ionization) being more than an order of magnitude smaller. In a relatively dense neutral medium (n_H≥ 100 cm^-3), where a significant fraction of carbon is in the neutral form, carbon ionization becomes an important heating source, but it is still not comparable to the photoelectric effect. The heating rate cannot be directly measured, but it can be estimated through observations of the [C II] line emission, since this is believed to be the main → coolant in regions where the photoelectric heating is dominant (See, e.g., Juvela et al., 2003, arXiv:astro-ph/0302365).

→ photoelectric; → heating.

The magnitude of an object as measured with a photoelectric photometer.

→ photoelectric; → magnitude.

A photometry in which the magnitudes are obtained using a photoelectric photometer.

→ photoelectric; → photometry.