Shiloh R, Chlouba T, Hommelhoff P
Physics Department, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Staudtstraße 1, 91058 Erlangen, Germany.
Phys Rev Lett. 2022 Jun 10;128(23):235301. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.235301.
The last two decades experimentally affirmed the quantum nature of free electron wave packets by the rapid development of transmission electron microscopes into ultrafast, quantum-coherent systems. So far, all experiments were restricted to the bounds of transmission electron microscopes enabling one or two photon-electron interaction sites. We show the quantum coherent coupling between electrons and light in a scanning electron microscope, at unprecedentedly low, subrelativistic energies down to 10.4 keV. These microscopes not only afford the yet-unexplored energies from ∼0.5 to 30 keV providing the optimum electron-light coupling efficiency, but also offer spacious and easily configurable experimental chambers for extended, cascaded optical set ups, potentially boasting thousands of photon-electron interaction sites. Our results make possible experiments in electron wave packet shaping, quantum computing, and spectral imaging with low-energy electrons.
过去二十年，透射电子显微镜迅速发展成为超快、量子相干系统，通过实验证实了自由电子波包的量子性质。到目前为止，所有实验都局限于透射电子显微镜的范围，只能实现一两个光子 - 电子相互作用位点。我们展示了在扫描电子显微镜中，电子与光之间的量子相干耦合，其能量低至前所未有的亚相对论能量，低至10.4 keV。这些显微镜不仅提供了尚未探索的约0.5至30 keV的能量范围，具有最佳的电子 - 光耦合效率，还提供了宽敞且易于配置的实验腔室，用于扩展的、级联光学装置，可能拥有数千个光子 - 电子相互作用位点。我们的结果使利用低能电子进行电子波包整形、量子计算和光谱成像的实验成为可能。
