Exploring temporal and rate limits of laser-induced electron emission

Hilbert, Shawn A.; Neukirch, Amanda; Uiterwaal, Cornelis; Batelaan, Herman

doi:10.1088/0953-4075/42/14/141001

Cited by 31 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 31 publications

(62 reference statements)

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“…The experimental data [9,17] suggests that the mean electron energy for a pulsed nanotip source E 0 can be, for example, 400eV and ∆E ≈ 1eV . These translate into k 0x = 1.024·10 11 m −1 and ∆k x,y,z = 1.28·10 8 m −1 .…”

Section: B Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quantum description and properties of electrons emitted from pulsed nanotip electron sources

Lougovski

Batelaan

2011

Phys. Rev. A

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We present a quantum calculation of the electron degeneracy for electron sources. We explore quantum interference of electrons in the temporal and spatial domain and demonstrate how it can be utilized to characterize a pulsed electron source. We estimate effects of Coulomb repulsion on two-electron interference and show that currently available nano tip pulsed electron sources operate in the regime where the quantum nature of electrons can be made dominant.

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Section: B Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result, the tip is exposed to very strong electric fields over a very short period of time. The intensity of the laser can be adjusted and thus the average number of photoelectrons emitted by the tip can be controlled ranging from just a single electron to hundreds of electrons per pulse [9].…”

Section: Description Formalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantum description and properties of electrons emitted from pulsed nanotip electron sources

Lougovski

Batelaan

2011

Phys. Rev. A

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“…The interplay of laser parameters and surface morphology defines the initial phase space of photoemission. Second, the provided data and relations shall be useful for energy-filtered diffraction and microscopy (43,44), femtosecond needle sources (45,46), propagation of elliptical packets (47), and for electron pulse compression with time-dependent fields (2,14,15,17). The outlined measurement approach is a practical way to investigate and optimize the energetic, temporal, and spatial characteristics of femtosecond electron packets for these and other applications.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Single-electron pulses for ultrafast diffraction

Aidelsburger

Kirchner

Krausz

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

154

161

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Visualization of atomic-scale structural motion by ultrafast electron diffraction and microscopy requires electron packets of shortest duration and highest coherence. We report on the generation and application of single-electron pulses for this purpose. Photoelectric emission from metal surfaces is studied with tunable ultraviolet pulses in the femtosecond regime. The bandwidth, efficiency, coherence, and electron pulse duration are investigated in dependence on excitation wavelength, intensity, and laser bandwidth. At photon energies close to the cathode's work function, the electron pulse duration shortens significantly and approaches a threshold that is determined by interplay of the optical pulse width and the acceleration field. An optimized choice of laser wavelength and bandwidth results in sub-100-fs electron pulses. We demonstrate single-electron diffraction from polycrystalline diamond films and reveal the favorable influences of matched photon energies on the coherence volume of single-electron wave packets. We discuss the consequences of our findings for the physics of the photoelectric effect and for applications of singleelectron pulses in ultrafast 4D imaging of structural dynamics.I nvestigation of structural dynamics in condensed matter and molecules by four-dimensional imaging calls for resolution of Angstrom-scale distances with femtosecond timing. These resolutions are provided by ultrafast electron diffraction and microscopy techniques, which are based on pump-probe arrangements with a femtosecond laser for excitation and with ultrashort electron packets for measuring sequences of atomic-scale structures during changes (1). Recently reported studies include such of reaction pathways during phase transformations (2), chemical reactions (3), laser ablation (4), molecular alignment (5), changes at interfaces (6), heating and melting processes (7-9), cantilever motion (10), or evanescent fields around nanostructures (11), among many others (12). Possibilities to access the attosecond regime of charge density motion are also discussed (13), taking into account the generation of pulses (14-16) and the quantum dynamics of the scattering process (17).These (and many more) achievements are made possible by the use of ultrashort electron packets at multi-kiloelectron-volt energies for time-resolved diffraction and imaging. Such packets can be generated by photoelectric emission from metal films illuminated with femtosecond lasers, followed by acceleration in static or radio-frequency electric fields. In multielectron packets, space-charge effects dominate the temporal structure and energy distribution; hence electron density has to be traded off against resolution (18,19). In contrast, space charge is absent in packets containing only one single electron at a time (12). In this regime, the longitudinal and transverse emittance, and hence the pulse duration, bandwidth, and coherence, are determined by the spatiotemporal statistics of the photoelectric effect.Some theoretical models consider the femtos...

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“…Our proposed method satisfies both of these conditions. Electrons can be extracted from a tip using a femtosecond laser oscillator at MHz repetition rates 11,12 which automatically implies their synchronization. The synchronization is preserved because only static fields are used for dispersion compensation.…”

Section: Dispersion Compensation For Attosecond Electron Pulsesmentioning

confidence: 99%