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Quantum physics

Tunable quantum recoil

Nature Photonics volume 17, pages 213–214 (2023)Cite this article

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X-ray photons emitted by free electrons travelling in van der Waals materials show energy shifts induced by quantum recoil, thus offering a viable route to generating tailored and tunable single X-ray photons.

Moving electrons can emit photons via several mechanisms. The most fundamental ones are Cherenkov radiation1 and Smith–Purcell radiation2. Both phenomena have been intensively studied, for example for transferring orbital angular momentum from an electron beam to emitted photons3. Cherenkov radiation is emitted by a free electron moving in a material with a large refractive index4 — a phenomenon that is similar to the acoustic shockwave generated by supersonic aircrafts. Smith–Purcell light is generated when an electron travels in a periodic structure along its direction of periodicity. In this case, the velocity of the electron becomes synchronous with the phase velocity of Floquet waves supported by the periodic structure. In other words, the grating acts as a mediator to enable electron–light inelastic scattering5.

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Fig. 1: Photon energy shift due to quantum recoil.

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  1. Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany

    Nahid Talebi

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  1. Nahid Talebi
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Correspondence to Nahid Talebi.

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Talebi, N. Tunable quantum recoil. Nat. Photon. 17, 213–214 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-023-01155-7

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