ABSTRACT
We report on a quantitative measurement of the spatial coherence of electrons emitted from a sharp metal needle tip. We investigate the coherence in photoemission triggered by a near-ultraviolet laser with a photon energy of 3.1 eV and compare it to dc-field emission. A carbon nanotube is brought into close proximity to the emitter tip to act as an electrostatic biprism. From the resulting electron matter wave interference fringes, we deduce an upper limit of the effective source radius both in laser-triggered and dc-field emission mode, which quantifies the spatial coherence of the emitted electron beam. We obtain (0.80±0.05) nm in laser-triggered and (0.55±0.02) nm in dc-field emission mode, revealing that the outstanding coherence properties of electron beams from needle tip field emitters are largely maintained in laser-induced emission. In addition, the relative coherence width of 0.36 of the photoemitted electron beam is the largest observed so far. The preservation of electronic coherence during emission as well as ramifications for time-resolved electron imaging techniques are discussed.
ABSTRACT
We present a novel beam splitter for low-energy electrons using a micro-structured guiding potential created above the surface of a planar microwave chip. Beam splitting arises from smoothly transforming the transverse guiding potential for an electron beam from a single-well harmonic confinement into a double well, thereby generating two separated output beams with 5 mm lateral spacing. Efficient beam splitting is observed for electron kinetic energies up to 3 eV, in excellent agreement with particle tracking simulations. We discuss prospects of this novel beam splitter approach for electron-based quantum matter-wave optics experiments.
