English

High-purity free-electron momentum states prepared by three-dimensional optical phase modulation

Optics 2020-11-18 v1 Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics Instrumentation and Detectors Quantum Physics

Abstract

We demonstrate the quantized transfer of photon energy and transverse momentum to a high-coherence electron beam. In an ultrafast transmission electron microscope, a three-dimensional phase modulation of the electron wavefunction is induced by transmitting the beam through a laser-illuminated thin graphite sheet. This all-optical free-electron phase space control results in high-purity superpositions of linear momentum states, providing an elementary component for optically programmable electron phase plates and beam splitters.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2003.01938,
  title  = {High-purity free-electron momentum states prepared by three-dimensional optical phase modulation},
  author = {Armin Feist and Sergey V. Yalunin and Sascha Schäfer and Claus Ropers},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2003.01938},
  year   = {2020}
}
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