Nondestructive Measurement of Orbital Angular Momentum for an Electron Beam

Hugo Larocque, Frédéric Bouchard, Vincenzo Grillo, Alicia Sit, Stefano Frabboni, Rafal E. Dunin-Borkowski, Miles J. Padgett, Robert W. Boyd, and Ebrahim Karimi
Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 154801 – Published 7 October 2016
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Abstract

Free electrons with a helical phase front, referred to as “twisted” electrons, possess an orbital angular momentum (OAM) and, hence, a quantized magnetic dipole moment along their propagation direction. This intrinsic magnetic moment can be used to probe material properties. Twisted electrons thus have numerous potential applications in materials science. Measuring this quantity often relies on a series of projective measurements that subsequently change the OAM carried by the electrons. In this Letter, we propose a nondestructive way of measuring an electron beam’s OAM through the interaction of this associated magnetic dipole with a conductive loop. Such an interaction results in the generation of induced currents within the loop, which are found to be directly proportional to the electron’s OAM value. Moreover, the electron experiences no OAM variations and only minimal energy losses upon the measurement, and, hence, the nondestructive nature of the proposed technique.

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  • Received 18 April 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.154801

© 2016 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

  1. Research Areas
  1. Physical Systems
Accelerators & Beams

Authors & Affiliations

Hugo Larocque1, Frédéric Bouchard1, Vincenzo Grillo2, Alicia Sit1, Stefano Frabboni2,3, Rafal E. Dunin-Borkowski4, Miles J. Padgett5, Robert W. Boyd1,6, and Ebrahim Karimi1,7,*

  • 1The Max Planck Centre for Extreme and Quantum Photonics, Department of Physics, University of Ottawa, 25 Templeton Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada
  • 2CNR-Istituto Nanoscienze, Centro S3, Via G Campi 213/a, I-41125 Modena, Italy
  • 3Dipartimento FIM Universitá di Modenae Reggio Emilia, Via G Campi 213/a, I-41125 Modena, Italy
  • 4Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich 52425, Germany
  • 5School of Physics and Astronomy, Glasgow University, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
  • 6Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA
  • 7Department of Physics, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences, 45137-66731 Zanjan, Iran

  • *ekarimi@uottawa.ca

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Issue

Vol. 117, Iss. 15 — 7 October 2016

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