Experimental Demonstration of an Electrostatic Orbital Angular Momentum Sorter for Electron Beams
Physical Review Letters, vol. 126, pp. 094802
Abstract
The component of orbital angular momentum (OAM) in the propagation direction is one of the fundamental quantities of an electron wave function that describes its rotational symmetry and spatial chirality. Here, we demonstrate experimentally an electrostatic sorter that can be used to analyze the OAM states of electron beams in a transmission electron microscope. The device achieves postselection or sorting of OAM states after electron-material interactions, thereby allowing the study of new material properties such as the magnetic states of atoms. The required electron-optical configuration is achieved by using microelectromechanical systems technology and focused ion beam milling to control the electron phase electrostatically with a lateral resolution of 50 nm. An OAM resolution of 1.5ℏ is realized in tests on controlled electron vortex beams, with the perspective of reaching an optimal OAM resolution of 1ℏ in the near future.
Authors 14
-
Forschungszentrum Jülich · Ernst Ruska Centre
Affiliation as printed
Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons and Peter Grünberg Institute, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
-
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia
Affiliation as printed
Dipartimento FIM, Universitá di Modena e Reggio Emilia, 41125 Modena, Italy
-
Affiliation as printed
Centro S3, Istituto di Nanoscienze-CNR, 41125 Modena, Italy
Centro S3, Istituto di Nanoscienze—CNR, 41125 Modena, Italy
-
Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems
Affiliation as printed
Istituto per la Microelettronica e i Microsistemi-CNR, 40129 Bologna, Italy
-
Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems
Affiliation as printed
Istituto per la Microelettronica e i Microsistemi-CNR, 40129 Bologna, Italy
-
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia
Affiliation as printed
Centro S3, Istituto di Nanoscienze-CNR, 41125 Modena, Italy
Dipartimento FIM, Universitá di Modena e Reggio Emilia, 41125 Modena, Italy
Centro S3, Istituto di Nanoscienze—CNR, 41125 Modena, Italy
-
Forschungszentrum Jülich · Ernst Ruska Centre · University of Bologna
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy
Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons and Peter Grünberg Institute, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
-
Affiliation as printed
Centro S3, Istituto di Nanoscienze-CNR, 41125 Modena, Italy
Centro S3, Istituto di Nanoscienze—CNR, 41125 Modena, Italy
-
Peng‐Han Lu Aachen
Forschungszentrum Jülich · Ernst Ruska Centre · RWTH Aachen University
Affiliation as printed
Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons and Peter Grünberg Institute, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
-
Thermo Fisher Scientific (Netherlands)
Affiliation as printed
Thermo Fisher Scientific, PO Box 80066, 5600 KA Eindhoven, Netherlands
-
Thermo Fisher Scientific (Netherlands)
Affiliation as printed
Thermo Fisher Scientific, PO Box 80066, 5600 KA Eindhoven, Netherlands
-
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada
-
Forschungszentrum Jülich · Ernst Ruska Centre
Affiliation as printed
Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons and Peter Grünberg Institute, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany
-
Affiliation as printed
Centro S3, Istituto di Nanoscienze-CNR, 41125 Modena, Italy
Centro S3, Istituto di Nanoscienze—CNR, 41125 Modena, Italy
Cited by 60 stored of 60
Cited by patents worldwide 1 (Lens.org)
-
Generation of quantum light statesUS12694317B2 2026-07-28 Active