Thermionic electron emission from narrow band-gap semiconductors under picosecond laser excitation

A model is presented to relate picosecond laser induced thermionic electron emission to the carrier and phonon dynamics of semiconductors. Silicon is chosen as a model material since its optical and thermal properties are well characterized. The temporal profiles of thermionic emission current and total electron yield are obtained as a function of incident laser fluence for different surface conditions, below the silicon surface melting threshold. Two distinct regimes have been found for the dependence of the electron yield on the laser fluence due to thermionic emission and this behavior is related to Auger recombination