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Measuring the orbital angular momentum spectrum of an electron beam

Author

Listed:
  • Vincenzo Grillo

    (CNR-Istituto Nanoscienze
    CNR-IMEM Parco Area delle Scienze 37/A)

  • Amir H. Tavabi

    (Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons)

  • Federico Venturi

    (CNR-Istituto Nanoscienze
    Dipartimento FIM Universitá di Modenae Reggio Emilia)

  • Hugo Larocque

    (University of Ottawa)

  • Roberto Balboni

    (CNR-IMM Bologna)

  • Gian Carlo Gazzadi

    (CNR-Istituto Nanoscienze)

  • Stefano Frabboni

    (CNR-Istituto Nanoscienze
    Dipartimento FIM Universitá di Modenae Reggio Emilia)

  • Peng-Han Lu

    (Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons)

  • Erfan Mafakheri

    (Dipartimento FIM Universitá di Modenae Reggio Emilia)

  • Frédéric Bouchard

    (University of Ottawa)

  • Rafal E. Dunin-Borkowski

    (Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons)

  • Robert W. Boyd

    (University of Ottawa
    Institute of Optics, University of Rochester)

  • Martin P. J. Lavery

    (School of Physics and Astronomy, Glasgow University)

  • Miles J. Padgett

    (School of Physics and Astronomy, Glasgow University)

  • Ebrahim Karimi

    (University of Ottawa
    Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences)

Abstract

Electron waves that carry orbital angular momentum (OAM) are characterized by a quantized and unbounded magnetic dipole moment parallel to their propagation direction. When interacting with magnetic materials, the wavefunctions of such electrons are inherently modified. Such variations therefore motivate the need to analyse electron wavefunctions, especially their wavefronts, to obtain information regarding the material’s structure. Here, we propose, design and demonstrate the performance of a device based on nanoscale holograms for measuring an electron’s OAM components by spatially separating them. We sort pure and superposed OAM states of electrons with OAM values of between −10 and 10. We employ the device to analyse the OAM spectrum of electrons that have been affected by a micron-scale magnetic dipole, thus establishing that our sorter can be an instrument for nanoscale magnetic spectroscopy.

Suggested Citation

  • Vincenzo Grillo & Amir H. Tavabi & Federico Venturi & Hugo Larocque & Roberto Balboni & Gian Carlo Gazzadi & Stefano Frabboni & Peng-Han Lu & Erfan Mafakheri & Frédéric Bouchard & Rafal E. Dunin-Borko, 2017. "Measuring the orbital angular momentum spectrum of an electron beam," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-6, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms15536
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15536
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