Measurement of charge limit in a strained lattice GaAs photocathode

The SLAC Linear Collider (SLC) Polarized Electron Source (PES) photocathodes have shown a charge saturation when illuminated with a high intensity laser pulse. This charge limit in the cesium-activated GaAs crystal seems to be strongly dependent on its surface condition and on the incident light wavelength. Charge limit studies with highly polarized strained lattice GaAs materials are presented.