Simulating the quantum efficiency (QE) from photocathodes used in accelerators and photoinjectors requires accounting for the properties of the photoemissive material, the optical properties, scattering coefficients, and doping concentrations of which are dependent upon the stoichiometry. We present a rapid and flexible optical model that can be used to investigate the consequences of changes in the dielectric properties and their impact on the QE through such factors as reflectivity and laser penetration depth. Differences in materials can then be characterized by changes to parameters used to evaluate the dielectric function in a Lorentz–Drude–Resonant model. A method to characterize data is motivated by the example of copper and vetted by application to an exact analytical model. The effects of changes in parameters describing the resonant terms, which aggregate in the visible and UV regions of the spectrum, are shown.
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