The wave function

• It is known that, light is an electromagnetic wave.

• Interference, diffraction, and polarization,
demonstrate this wave nature of light.
• Observing at the emission, absorption, and
scattering of electromagnetic radiation, however,
we discover a completely different aspect of light.
• The energy of an electromagnetic wave is
quantized; it is emitted and absorbed in particle-
like packages of definite energy, called photons.
• The energy of a single photon is proportional to
the frequency of the radiation
• Light and other electromagnetic radiation
exhibits wave–particle duality:
• Light acts sometimes like waves and
sometimes like particles.
• Interference and diffraction demonstrate wave
behavior, while emission and absorption of
photons demonstrate the particle behavior
 PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT
• A  material emits electrons from its surface when
illuminated.
• To escape from the surface, an electron must
absorb enough energy from the incident light to
overcome the attraction of positive ions in the
material
Properties of photons
i. A photon travels at a speed of light c in vacuum.
ii. It has zero rest mass. i.e. the photon can not exist
at rest.
iii) The kinetic mass of a photon is,
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•iv)  The momentum of a photon is,
v) Photons travel in a straight line
vi) Energy of a photon depends upon frequency of the
photon; so the energy of the photon does not change when
photon travels from one medium to another.
vii) Wavelength of the photon changes in different media;
so, velocity of a photon is different in different media.
viii) Photons are electrically neutral.
ix) Photons may show diffraction under given conditions.
x) Photons are not deviated by magnetic and electric fields

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Photoelectric Effect
• This is a phenomenon of emission of electrons
from mainly metal surfaces exposed to light
energy (X – rays, γ – rays, UV rays, Visible light
and even Infra Red rays) of suitable frequency
• The electrons emitted by this effect are called
photoelectrons
• The current constituted by photoelectrons is
known as photoelectric current
• Non metals also show photoelectric effect.
• Liquids and gases also show this effect but to
limited extent
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 Laws of Photoelectric Emission:

1) For a given substance, there is a minimum value of frequency of

incident light called threshold frequency below which no photoelectric
emission is possible, howsoever, the intensity of incident light may be.
2) The number of photoelectrons emitted per second (i.e. photoelectric
current) is directly proportional to the intensity of incident light
provided the frequency is above the threshold frequency.
3) The maximum kinetic energy of the photoelectrons is directly
proportional to the frequency provided the frequency is above the
threshold frequency.
4) The maximum kinetic energy of the photoelectrons is independent of
the intensity of the incident light.
5) The process of photoelectric emission is instantaneous. i.e. as soon as
the photon of suitable frequency falls on the substance, it emits
photoelectrons.
6) The photoelectric emission is one-to-one. i.e. for every photon of
suitable frequency one electron is emitted
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 Einstein’s Photoelectric Equation
• When a photon of energy hν falls on a metal
surface, the energy of the photon is absorbed by
the electron and is used in two ways:
i) A part of energy is used to overcome the surface
barrier and come out of the metal surface.
 This part of the energy is called ‘work function’
(Ф = hν0).
ii) The remaining part of the energy is used in
giving a velocity ‘v’ to the emitted photoelectron.
This is equal to the maximum kinetic energy of the
photoelectrons ( ½ mv2max ) where ‘m’ is mass of the
photoelectron
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• According
  to law of
conservation of energy

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Verification of Laws of Photoelectric Emission
based on Einstein’s Photoelectric Equation
•i) If
  𝜐 < 𝜐0, then ½ mv2max is negative, which is not
possible. Therefore, for photoelectric emission to take
place 𝜐 > 𝜐0.
ii) Since one photon emits one electron, so the number
of photoelectrons emitted per second is directly
proportional to the intensity of incident light.
iii) It is clear that ½ mv2max 𝜐 as h and 𝜐0 are constant.
 This shows that K.E. of the photoelectrons is
directly proportional to the frequency of the incident
light.
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iv) Photoelectric emission is due to collision
between a photon and an electron.
 As such there can not be any significant time
lag between the incidence of photon and
emission of photoelectron. i.e. the process is
instantaneous.
 It is found that delay is only 10-8 seconds.

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Example
A laser pointer with a power output of 5.00 mW
emits red light (λ = 650 nm).
(a) What is the magnitude of the momentum of
each photon?
(b) How many photons does the laser pointer emit
each second?

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Solution

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Questions
• While conducting a photoelectric-effect
experiment with light of a certain frequency,
you find that a reverse potential difference of
1.25 V is required to reduce the current to
zero. Find
(a) the maximum kinetic energy and
(b)the maximum speed of the emitted
photoelectrons.

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  Question
For a particular cathode material in a
photoelectric-effect experiment, you measure
stopping potentials V0 = 1.0 V for light of
wavelength λ = 600 nm, 2.0 V for 400 nm, and
3.0 V for 300 nm. Determine the work function Ø
for this material and the implied
value of Planck’s constant h.

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 X-Ray Production
• The photoelectric effect provides convincing
evidence that light is absorbed in the form of
photons.
• However, light is emitted as photons.
• An experiment that demonstrates this convincingly
is the inverse of the photoelectric effect:
• Instead of releasing electrons from a surface by
shining electromagnetic radiation on it, we cause a
surface to emit radiation—specifically, x rays—by
bombarding it with fast-moving electrons
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• When the cathode is heated to a very high
temperature, it releases electrons in a process
called thermionic emission.
• As in the photoelectric effect, the minimum
energy that an individual electron must be
given to escape from the cathode’s surface is
equal to the work function for the surface.
• In this case the energy is provided to the
electrons by heat rather than by light.

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• An electron has charge -e and gains kinetic
energy eV when accelerated through a potential
increase V .
• The most energetic photon (highest frequency
and shortest wavelength) is produced if the
electron is braked to a stop all at once when it
hits the anode, so that all of its kinetic energy
goes to produce one photon; that is

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Bremsstrahlung, (German: “braking radiation”),
electromagnetic radiation produced by a sudden slowing
down or deflection of charged particles (especially
electrons) passing through matter in the vicinity of the
strong electric fields of atomic nuclei
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• In the equation above we ignore the work
function of the target anode and the initial
kinetic energy of the electrons “boiled off” from
the cathode.
• These energies are very small compared to the
kinetic energy eV gained due to the potential
difference.
• We conclude that, the photon picture of
electromagnetic radiation is valid for the
emission as well as the absorption of radiation.

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 Compton Scattering and Pair Production

• We have already discussed about compton

effect (scattering)
• We discussed how light behaves when it
undergoes scattering by a single electron, such
as an individual electron within an atom

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 Pair Production
• If a gamma-ray photon of sufficiently short
wavelength is fired at a target, it may not scatter.
• Instead, it may disappear completely and be
replaced by two new particles: an electron and a
positron (a particle that has the same rest mass m
as an electron but has a positive charge +e rather
than the negative charge -e of the electron).
• This process is called pair production.
• It was first observed by the physicists Patrick
Blackett and Giuseppe Occhialini in 1933
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• The electron and positron have to be produced
in pairs in order to conserve electric charge
• The incident photon has zero charge, and the
electron–positron pair has net charge (-e) +
(+e) = 0.
• The minimum energy required for this is given
by

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• Thus the photon must have at least this much
energy to produce an electron–positron pair
• The inverse process, electron–positron pair
annihilation, occurs when a positron and an
electron collide.
• Both particles disappear, and two (or occasionally
three) photons can appear, with total energy of at
least 2mec2 = 1.022 MeV.

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 Example
You use 0.124-nm x-ray photons in a Compton-
scattering experiment.
(a) At what angle is the wavelength of the
scattered x rays 1.0% longer than that of the
incident x rays?
(b)At what angle is it 0.050% longer?
Solution (a)

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Example
• An electron and a positron, initially far apart,
move toward each other with the same speed.
They collide head-on, annihilating each other
and producing two photons. Find the energies,
wavelengths, and frequencies of the photons if
the initial kinetic energies of the electron and
positron are (a) both negligible and (b) both
5.000 MeV. The electron rest energy is 0.511
MeV.

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 Solution

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