Physical Transformation AtlasPTA
Pathway · p-8c39478ae1 · demonstrated

Photon-enhanced thermionic converter

Incident radiation fluxPhoton-enhanced thermionic emissionCharge carriersElectrical work

Concentrated sunlight photoexcites a hot GaN cathode that then emits thermionically; laboratory demonstration.

Epistemic state of the route

known constituent relations
1 / 3 established or replicated · weakest constituent demonstrated
constituent maturity floor
K4 · experimentally observed
search for this exact route
A recorded pathway or a reviewed search records a demonstration of this composition.
recorded pathway
Photon-enhanced thermionic converter · demonstrated
composition maturity
K4 · experimentally observed
recorded-pathway overlap
this route is the recorded pathway Photon-enhanced thermionic converter
route-level evidence
1 source for the complete composition · 2 cited by the constituent steps
boundaries and interfaces
BOUNDARY compatible · no region transition

Explorematrix context · physics checks · steps · route evidence · constituent evidence · cite

Matrix context

D = disequilibrium row · C = coupling family column. A cell reads the state of the atlas for that pair.

D.11 × C.02 · Incident radiation flux × Thermionicfamily: Thermionic

Steps

  1. 01
    Incident radiation flux —drives→ Photon-enhanced thermionic emissiondemonstratedclaim record
    radiative → electrical · loss to thermal
    • concentrated sunlight on a semiconductor cathode held at several hundred °C in vacuum
    vacuum required · above ~700 K · semiconductor required · illumination required
    refs [1]
  2. 02
    Photon-enhanced thermionic emission —produces→ Charge carriersdemonstratedclaim record
    electrical → electrical
    refs [1]
  3. 03
    Charge carriers —converts into→ Electrical workestablishedclaim record
    electrical → electrical · loss to thermal
    • carriers driven through an external load at the potential difference the source maintains
    refs [2]

Evidence for the complete composition · 1

  1. [1]
    J. W. Schwede, et al.. Photon-enhanced thermionic emission for solar concentrator systems (2010)
    Nature Materials 9, 762–767 · doi:10.1038/nmat2814 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record

Evidence for the constituent relations · 2

  1. [1]
    J. W. Schwede, et al.. Photon-enhanced thermionic emission for solar concentrator systems (2010)
    Nature Materials 9, 762–767 · doi:10.1038/nmat2814 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record
  2. [2]
    N. W. Ashcroft, N. D. Mermin. Solid State Physics (1976)
    Holt, Rinehart and Winston · book, no DOI · record

Cite this route

Physical Transformation Atlas (2026). route p-8c39478ae1: Photon-enhanced thermionic converter. Dataset revision rbfbfcbb70e57 (hash of the canonical data). https://physical-transformation-atlas.wldud5192.workers.dev/path/8c39478ae1

Ids and matrix addresses are stable across revisions; the revision hash identifies the exact canonical files the record was compiled from and is meta.data_hash in every /api export. Reuse terms: see the license field in any export.