University of Pennsylvania Experiment 84: The Photoelectric Effect Object

84.1

To use the photoelectric effect to measure the ratio of Planck's constant to the charge on an electron. Apparatus Czerny-Turner monochromator, photoelectric tube, digital voltmeter, digital picoammeter, a medium pressure mercury lamp, variable power supply. Introduction The photoelectric effect is the phenomenon in which electrons are ejected from the surface of a solid by incident photons of known energy. The explanation of this phenomenon constitutes one of the earliest confirmations of quantum theory and provides a spectacular example of the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter. By the beginning of the twentieth century, two empirical laws were established concerning photoelectric emission:

Figure 1: The photoelectric effect, showing electrons ejected from a solid due to incident radiation.

1. The number of electrons ejected per unit time from an illuminated surface per unit time, the photoelectric current, is proportional to the intensity of the incident light. 2. The maximum energy of the emitted electrons is proportional to the frequency of the incident light but independent of the light intensity. Attempts to explain these laws in terms of classical theory were unsuccessful and the problem remained unsolved until the efforts of two men provided not only an explanation but, indeed, a revolution in physics. At the turn of this century, Max Planck completed a detailed investigation of the distribution of energy in black body radiation. During the course of his analysis he found it necessary to hypothesize energy quanta, today called photons, and subsequently formulated a relationship between the energy E of the photons and frequency f of electromagnetic radiation: hc E = hf =

where h is a constant of proportionality known universally as Planck's constant and c is the speed of light in a vacuum. In 1905 Einstein developed a theory which used Planck's quantum theory of radiation to account for the photoelectric effect. Einstein envisioned the photoelectric process as one in which a photon of radiation incident upon a metallic surface transferred its entire energy hf to an electron bound in the solid. If the momentum of the electron is in the direction of the surface it can escape with a

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kinetic energy equal the energy absorbed from the photon less the binding energy of the electron to the rest of the solid. The minimum binding energy of electrons in a solid is called the work function of the material. Denoting the work function by , the maximum kinetic energy of emitted electrons is

Emax = hf
Investigation and verification of this relation is the primary object of the experiment. We study the photoelectric effect using the device shown schematically in Figure 2. Monochromatic light of frequency strikes the cathode and ejects electrons with kinetic energy ranging from zero to the maximum value given by Equation (1). If the electrons kinetic energy is sufficient to overcome the retarding potential V, they will reach the anode and contribute to the current in the circuit. If the voltage V is very small, most of the electrons will have kinetic energy greater than eV (the difference between their potential energy at the negative and positive plates) and a current will flow in the circuit. However, if V is increased, a point will be reached where even the most energetic electrons (those with kinetic energy given by Equation (1)) will not have sufficient kinetic energy to overcome the potential energy difference and all current flow will cease.

(1)

Figure 2: Schematic representation the photoelectric experiment.

The smallest potential difference that will reduce the current to zero is called the stopping voltage, VS. By definition, the magnitude of the electronic charge e times the stopping voltage satisfies the equation h eVs = Emax = hf or Vs = f (2) e e Thus, a graph of the stopping voltage as a function of the frequency of the illuminating light should h and intercept . be a straight line with slope f e In order to perform this experiment, four essential components are required: 1. A light source producing discrete wavelengths of sufficient intensity to produce measurable photoelectric currents. 2. An optical instrument capable of separating these wavelengths so at each may be separately used to illuminate the photocathode,

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3. A phototube having a photocathode which will respond to the available light frequencies, 4. A sensitive device to measure the stopping voltage. The light source is a mercury lamp which emits many discrete spectral lines, the most prominent of which are given in the table below. Color Yellow (weak) Yellow (weak) Green Blue-Green (weak) Blue-Violet Violet (weak) Violet Ultraviolet Ultraviolet Wavelength x 10-10m 5791 5770 5461 4916 4358 4078 4047 3663 3650

The monochromator used in this experiment consists of a precision diffraction grating which is mounted so that it may be rotated about an axis passing through the plane of its ruled surface. The light enters the system through the entrance slit, is collimated by a spherical mirror, and illuminates the grating. The diffracted light, reflected from the grating, is in turn focused on the exit slit by a second spherical mirror. The instrument operates as a selective filter which may be adjusted to transmit one particular wavelength of light, while rejecting all others. The system requires no adjustment except for the wavelength-selecting micrometer screw, which varies the grating angle to select the wavelength that reaches the exit slit. A "cut-open" monochromator is available in the laboratory for your inspection. The phototube is mounted directly behind the exit slit so that the radiation passing through the monochromator will be incident upon the photocathode. The light from the mercury lamp must be well focused on the entrance slit. The photocurrent is detected with a pico-ammeter, and the biasing voltage across the phototube is measured with a digital multimeter. There is a small switch box with a toggle switch in the center, which is used to apply either a Forward (positive) or Reverse (negative) biasing voltage to the photodiode.

Figure 3: Equipment setup.

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The voltage reading on the digital multimeter will show the voltage polarity. When the tube is forward biased, it will conduct, which will enable you to locate the strong lines by looking for a maximum reading. To find the stopping voltage, you will then have to reverse the voltage polarity and make the voltage more negative until the photocurrent becomes zero. (The switch also has a center position which is OFF.) Procedure 1. Turn on mercury lamp and allow it to warm for five minutes before taking data. Position the source so that the emitted light is focused on the entrance slit of the monochromater. Note that the lines denoted as "weak" can be used for calibrations purposes only. 2. Remove the window covering on the monochromater housing and adjust the micrometer screw so that one of the visible lines falls on the exit slit. You will need to calibrate the monochromater which is done by setting the bias switch to forward and the bias voltage to some positive value, and adjusting the micrometer to maximize the picoammeter reading. This must be done for each wavelength used in the experiment. The micrometer settings should be plotted versus the corresponding wavelengths; a straight line should be obtained. 3. Obtain the reverse bias I-V curve for all (strong) wavelengths. An example of such a curve is shown in Figure 3. Set the bias switch to reverse and increase the magnitude of the bias voltage until the current measured on the picoammeter reaches its constant minimum value, indicated as point A in Figure 3. Record the values of I and V. Now decrease the magnitude of the bias voltage in steps of 0.1volts, recording the successive values of I and V until the current becomes +0.005 microamperes, indicated as point B in Figure 3.
Data for finding the Stopping Voltage Figure 4: Sample Sample data for finding stopping voltage.
0.06

0.05

0.04

0.03

0.01

-3.1

-2.9

-2.7

-2.5

-2.3
Bias voltage (Volts)

-2.1

-1.9

-1.7

-0.01 -1.5

Photocurrent ( A)

0.02

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Graph I vs. V and connect the data points by a smooth curve. Draw the tangent to the curve in the limit of low current, as illustrated in Figure 3. The stopping voltage VS is the voltage at which the smooth curve through the data points intersects the tangent curve. Estimate VS and its uncertainty. 4. Repeat Steps 2-4 for the green, blue violet, violet, and one of the ultraviolet lines. Analysis 1. Plot the stopping voltage VS as a function of the frequency f of the light, showing the uncertainties. Estimate the slope and its uncertainty by drawing the best-fit line, and then the lines of minimum and maximum plausible slope. 2. Compare your experimental value of find

in volts from your plot of VS vs f. e

h with the accepted value of 4.136 1015 J Sec / C . Also e

JB 8/18/2004 exp84.doc