Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Quantum physics

Spaced-out electrons

In a stream of photons, the particles tend to bunch together, but electrons in a beam do the opposite. At last, this quantum effect for free electrons — the Hanbury Brown–Twiss anticorrelation — has been seen experimentally.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Random and bunched distributions.

References

  1. Einstein, A. Phys. Z. 10, 185–193 (1909).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Kiesel, H., Renz, A. & Hasselbach, F. Nature 418, 392–394 (2002).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Purcell, E. M. Nature 178, 1449–1450 (1956).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Silverman, M. Phys. Lett. A 120, 442–446 (1987).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Hanbury Brown, R. & Twiss, R. Nature 177, 27–29 (1956).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Henny, M. et al. Science 284, 296–298 (1999).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Oliver, W. D., Kim, J., Liu, R. C. & Yamamoto, Y. Science 284, 299–301 (1999).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Spence, J. C. H. & Howells, M. Ultramicroscopy (in the press).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to John C. H. Spence.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Spence, J. Spaced-out electrons. Nature 418, 377–379 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/418377a

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/418377a

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing