A single crystal of zinc, cylindrical in form and with the hexagonal axis perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder, was mounted in a photo-electric tube and a narrow strip of its surface parallel to the axis of the cylinder illuminated with ultraviolet light. A variation of the photo-electric current was observed as the crystal was rotated. The maximum current was obtained when the hexagonal axis was normal to the illuminated surface and the minimum when it was parallel. The ratio was about 2:1. The effect with polarized light was the same as with unpolarized.A study of the evaporated surface showed that it was made up of microscopic crystal facets. The albedo was found to be about 0.22 and was the same for all portions of the surface.
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Ernest G. Linder (1927) studied this question.