In this paper, we describe an ultrafast scanning electron microscope setup developed for the research of inelastic scattering of electrons at optical near-fields of periodic dielectric nanostructures. Electron emission from the Schottky cathode is controlled by ultraviolet femtosecond laser pulses. The electron pulse duration at the interaction site is characterized via cross-correlation of the electrons with an infrared laser pulse that excites a synchronous periodic near-field on the surface of a silicon nanostructure. The lower limit of 410 fs is found in the regime of a single electron per pulse. The role of pulse broadening due to Coulomb interaction in multielectron pulses is investigated. The setup is used to demonstrate an increase in the interaction distance between the electrons and the optical near-fields by introducing a pulse-front-tilt to the infrared laser beam. Furthermore, we show the dependence of the final electron spectra on the resonance condition between the phase velocity of the optical near-field and the electron propagation velocity. The resonance is controlled by adjusting the initial electron energy/velocity and by introducing a linear chirp to the structure period allowing the increase of the final electron energy gain up to a demonstrated value of 3.8 keV.
Skip Nav Destination
Ultrafast scanning electron microscope applied for studying the interaction between free electrons and optical near-fields of periodic nanostructures
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
Article navigation
14 July 2018
Research Article|
July 13 2018
Ultrafast scanning electron microscope applied for studying the interaction between free electrons and optical near-fields of periodic nanostructures

Available to Purchase
M. Kozák;
M. Kozák
a)
1
Department of Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)
, Staudtstrasse 1, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
2
Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University
, Ke Karlovu 3, 12116 Prague 2, Czech Republic
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
Search for other works by this author on:
J. McNeur;
J. McNeur
1
Department of Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)
, Staudtstrasse 1, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
Search for other works by this author on:
N. Schönenberger;
N. Schönenberger
1
Department of Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)
, Staudtstrasse 1, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
Search for other works by this author on:
J. Illmer;
J. Illmer
1
Department of Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)
, Staudtstrasse 1, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
Search for other works by this author on:
A. Li;
A. Li
1
Department of Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)
, Staudtstrasse 1, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
Search for other works by this author on:
A. Tafel;
A. Tafel
1
Department of Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)
, Staudtstrasse 1, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
Search for other works by this author on:
P. Yousefi;
P. Yousefi
1
Department of Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)
, Staudtstrasse 1, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
Search for other works by this author on:
T. Eckstein;
T. Eckstein
1
Department of Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)
, Staudtstrasse 1, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
Search for other works by this author on:
P. Hommelhoff
P. Hommelhoff
1
Department of Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)
, Staudtstrasse 1, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
Search for other works by this author on:
M. Kozák
1,2,a)
J. McNeur
1
N. Schönenberger
1
J. Illmer
1
A. Li
1
A. Tafel
1
P. Yousefi
1
T. Eckstein
1
P. Hommelhoff
1
1
Department of Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)
, Staudtstrasse 1, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
2
Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University
, Ke Karlovu 3, 12116 Prague 2, Czech Republic
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
J. Appl. Phys. 124, 023104 (2018)
Article history
Received:
April 02 2018
Accepted:
June 12 2018
Connected Content
A companion article has been published:
Optical near-fields of nanostructures probed with electron interactions at femtosecond scales
Citation
M. Kozák, J. McNeur, N. Schönenberger, J. Illmer, A. Li, A. Tafel, P. Yousefi, T. Eckstein, P. Hommelhoff; Ultrafast scanning electron microscope applied for studying the interaction between free electrons and optical near-fields of periodic nanostructures. J. Appl. Phys. 14 July 2018; 124 (2): 023104. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5032093
Download citation file:
Pay-Per-View Access
$40.00
Sign In
You could not be signed in. Please check your credentials and make sure you have an active account and try again.
Citing articles via
A step-by-step guide to perform x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
Grzegorz Greczynski, Lars Hultman
Tutorial: Simulating modern magnetic material systems in mumax3
Jonas J. Joos, Pedram Bassirian, et al.
Piezoelectric thin films and their applications in MEMS: A review
Jinpeng Liu, Hua Tan, et al.
Related Content
Optical near-fields of nanostructures probed with electron interactions at femtosecond scales
Scilight (July 2018)
Quantum dynamics of attosecond electron pulse compression
J. Appl. Phys. (December 2017)
A compact electron source for the dielectric laser accelerator
Appl. Phys. Lett. (April 2020)
High spatial coherence in multiphoton-photoemitted electron beams
Appl. Phys. Lett. (October 2018)
Recent demonstration of record high gradients in dielectric laser accelerating structures
AIP Conf. Proc. (March 2017)