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Low-power light modifies electron microscopy

An optical device designed to control the properties of electron waves inside an electron microscope demonstrates that clever platforms for integrated photonics need not be powered by expensive laser systems.
  1. Martin Kozák

    1. Martin Kozák is in the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, 12116 Prague, Czech Republic.

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The wavelength of an electron can be up to 100,000 times shorter than that of a photon, which means that microscopes that use electrons to illuminate a sample are able to resolve much smaller structures than can those that use light. But electrons and photons also work together: interactions with photons can be used to modulate the wave-like nature of electrons, changing the energy spectrum of the electron beam in a way that could be useful for tailored microscopy1. However, these electron–photon interactions are weak, and usually require high-power laser sources. Writing in Nature, Henke et al.2 report an optical platform for manipulating the properties of electron waves using a light source that is not much more powerful than an average laser pointer. The low light power required of this device, together with its integrated design, make it readily applicable to many existing electron microscopes.

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Nature 600, 610-611 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-03767-x

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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