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ELECTRON MICROSCOPY

Polarization out of the vortex

Nature Physics volume 17, pages 549–551 (2021)Cite this article

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The virtual photons that are exchanged when a free-electron vortex beam interacts with a nanoscopic target unlock an explicit connection between polarized optical spectroscopy and the inelastic scattering of scalar electron waves.

Some equations do the work of many. Take the Helmholtz equation: it describes the behaviour of the free electromagnetic field and it is also the equation governing the quantum-mechanical scattering of unbound electrons in the non-relativistic limit — just one of the many things that waves and particles have in common. But there is one notable difference: electromagnetic waves are vector fields endowed with polarization structure, whereas the electron wavefunction is simply a scalar, provided spin is neglected. One consequence of this difference is that, without polarization, electron spectroscopy — a powerful tool for nanophotonics — cannot yet provide the same functionality as optical spectroscopy. But now, writing in Nature Physics, Hugo Lourenço-Martins and co-workers1 report that they have established a direct relationship between polarized optical spectroscopy and the inelastic scattering of free electrons with carefully prepared transverse phase profiles. This lays the theoretical groundwork for polarized electron-beam nanospectroscopy and simultaneously softens the distinction between particles and waves as probes of matter.

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Fig. 1: Polarized electron-energy-loss spectroscopy using phase-shaped electron beams.

References

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  1. University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    David J. Masiello

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  1. David J. Masiello
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Correspondence to David J. Masiello.

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Masiello, D.J. Polarization out of the vortex. Nat. Phys. 17, 549–551 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-021-01167-6

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