By a series of model calculations the effects of various theoretical ingredients on a simple theory of photofield emission yield are illustrated. Only surface-effect mechanisms are retained, but for reasonable parameter choices the predictions can be made to agree with experimental data. The influence of different possible spatial variations for both the potential-energy barrier and the photon field are treated.

• Received 26 April 1988

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.38.3747