I remember from physics photons excite electrons and then the electrons sometimes go back to their resting state where the re-emit the photon or something similar, but I didn't know electrons got ejected
mylinhvu11
I also remember learning about this in high school and I think this video is pretty interesting of a small thought process and way that this theory came about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b0axfyJ4oo
ess3ncez
Photon capture technologies have improved significantly with the development of sensors and detectors that exhibit high quantum efficiency. These devices can efficiently capture and convert photons into electrical signals, even at low light levels. Single-photon detectors, for example, can register individual photons, enabling ultra-sensitive measurements and applications in quantum computing and quantum communication.
rheask8246
The demonstration (and experiments surrounding) the photoelectric effect was actually revolutionary to how physicists understood light. Previously, it was theorized from classical electromagnetism that as the frequency of light increases, then the number of electrons ejected would also increase. However, the number of ejected electrons actually doesn't linearly depend on frequency of light! Electrons are ejected only once the light goes over a threshold frequency, and after that, the number of electrons ejected stays constant. This phenomenon completely went against the interpretation of light as a continuous wave! Einstein theorized that the photoelectric effect displays the light is carried in discrete energy "packets", which we call photons!
sharhar
To add on to the above comment: quantum mechanics had been discovered by Max Plank 5 years before Einstein applied it to the photoelectric effect. Furthermore, the effect itself has been known about for decades. The big contribution that Einstein made was in realizing that Max Planks quantum mechanics could describe the phenomenon. Before that point, all physicists (including Max Plank) thought that the math of quantum mechanics was just made up nonsense that had no real physical backing. Einstein was the one that proved that the math of quantum mechanics really did describe reality.
I remember from physics photons excite electrons and then the electrons sometimes go back to their resting state where the re-emit the photon or something similar, but I didn't know electrons got ejected
I also remember learning about this in high school and I think this video is pretty interesting of a small thought process and way that this theory came about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b0axfyJ4oo
Photon capture technologies have improved significantly with the development of sensors and detectors that exhibit high quantum efficiency. These devices can efficiently capture and convert photons into electrical signals, even at low light levels. Single-photon detectors, for example, can register individual photons, enabling ultra-sensitive measurements and applications in quantum computing and quantum communication.
The demonstration (and experiments surrounding) the photoelectric effect was actually revolutionary to how physicists understood light. Previously, it was theorized from classical electromagnetism that as the frequency of light increases, then the number of electrons ejected would also increase. However, the number of ejected electrons actually doesn't linearly depend on frequency of light! Electrons are ejected only once the light goes over a threshold frequency, and after that, the number of electrons ejected stays constant. This phenomenon completely went against the interpretation of light as a continuous wave! Einstein theorized that the photoelectric effect displays the light is carried in discrete energy "packets", which we call photons!
To add on to the above comment: quantum mechanics had been discovered by Max Plank 5 years before Einstein applied it to the photoelectric effect. Furthermore, the effect itself has been known about for decades. The big contribution that Einstein made was in realizing that Max Planks quantum mechanics could describe the phenomenon. Before that point, all physicists (including Max Plank) thought that the math of quantum mechanics was just made up nonsense that had no real physical backing. Einstein was the one that proved that the math of quantum mechanics really did describe reality.