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Title: Is a mean transverse energy below the thermal value achievable and usable
Plain: The sideways energy of emitted electrons was thought to bottom out at the temperature of the cathode. Some proposals and data suggest it can go lower, but this is not established.
Precise: For near-threshold photoemission the mean transverse energy is usually bounded below by $\mathrm{MTE} \sim k_B T$ of the electron distribution. Determine whether mechanisms such as refraction at an effective-mass discontinuity at the surface or band-structure selection give $\mathrm{MTE} < k_B T$ at useful quantum efficiency ($\mathrm{QE} > 1e-5$), and the minimum attainable MTE for a given material at $T = 300\,\mathrm{K}$.
Settled by: Direct MTE measurements below $k_B T$ at room temperature with a calculation reproducing them from the material band structure.
Kind: well-posed
Answer type: value
References: (empty)
Literature status: contested
Status note: A 2026 Physical Review Letters report attributed subthermal MTE to electron refraction in multialkali cathodes; independent confirmation is pending.
Posed since: (empty)