Highly Coherent Electron Beam from a Laser-Triggered Tungsten Needle Tip.

Ehberger D, Hammer J, Eisele M, Krüger M, Noe J, Högele A, Hommelhoff P (2015)

Publication Status: Published

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2015

Journal

Physical Review Letters American Physical Society

Book Volume: 114

Pages Range: 227601

Journal Issue: 22

URI: https://arxiv.org/abs/1412.4584

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.227601

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.

Authors with CRIS profile

Dominik Ehberger Lehrstuhl für Laserphysik Jakob Hammer Lehrstuhl für Laserphysik Michael Krüger Lehrstuhl für Laserphysik Peter Hommelhoff Lehrstuhl für Laserphysik

Involved external institutions

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) DE Germany (DE) Max-Planck-Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ) / Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Ehberger, D., Hammer, J., Eisele, M., Krüger, M., Noe, J., Högele, A., & Hommelhoff, P. (2015). Highly Coherent Electron Beam from a Laser-Triggered Tungsten Needle Tip. Physical Review Letters, 114(22), 227601. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.227601

MLA:

Ehberger, Dominik, et al. "Highly Coherent Electron Beam from a Laser-Triggered Tungsten Needle Tip." Physical Review Letters 114.22 (2015): 227601.

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