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.
Nondestructive Measurement of Orbital Angular Momentum for an Electron Beam / Larocque, Hugo; Bouchard, Frédéric; Grillo, Vincenzo; Sit, Alicia; Frabboni, Stefano; Dunin Borkowski, Rafal E.; Padgett, Miles J.; Boyd, Robert W.; Karimi, Ebrahim. - In: PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS. - ISSN 0031-9007. - STAMPA. - 117:15(2016), pp. 154801_1-154801_5. [10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.154801]
Nondestructive Measurement of Orbital Angular Momentum for an Electron Beam
GRILLO, VINCENZO;FRABBONI, Stefano;
2016
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.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
---|---|---|---|
PhysRevLett.117.154801.pdf
Accesso riservato
Tipologia:
Versione pubblicata dall'editore
Dimensione
602.07 kB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
602.07 kB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri Richiedi una copia |
Pubblicazioni consigliate
I metadati presenti in IRIS UNIMORE sono rilasciati con licenza Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal, mentre i file delle pubblicazioni sono rilasciati con licenza Attribuzione 4.0 Internazionale (CC BY 4.0), salvo diversa indicazione.
In caso di violazione di copyright, contattare Supporto Iris