= Owen Willans Richardson
{c}
{tag=Physicist}
{title2=1879–1959}
= Owen Richardson
{c}
{synonym}
= O. W. Richardson
{c}
{synonym}
<Owen Willans Richardson> studied <thermionic emission>, the release of <electrons> from a heated surface. In the ideal Richardson form, the emitted <current density> is $J=AT^2e^{-W/(k_BT)}$, where $W$ is a <work function>, $T$ is <temperature> and $A$ is an appropriate prefactor. A plot of $\log(J/T^2)$ against $1/T$ has slope $-W/k_B$ under the model's surface and collection assumptions. This turns a strong temperature dependence into a way to infer the electronic escape barrier.<Nobel Lectures, Physics 1922–1941/Thermionic Phenomena and the Laws which Govern Them by Owen Willans Richardson>[Nobel lecture: temperature dependence and electron-emission laws]{ref}
Physics.https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/people/na7014/owen-willans-richardson[Independent professional profile]{ref}
\Image[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Owen_Richardson.jpg]
{title=Portrait of <Owen Willans Richardson>}
{width=240}
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