Radiative loss of coherence in free electrons: a long-range quantum phenomenon

Cruz I. Velasco; Valerio Di Giulio; F. Javier García de Abajo

doi:10.1038/s41377-023-01361-6

Your Location：

Home >

Browse articles >

Radiative loss of coherence in free electrons: a long-range quantum phenomenon

Original Articles

- Radiative loss of coherence in free electrons: a long-range quantum phenomenon
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 13, Issue 2, Pages: 294-301(2024)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, 08860 Castelldefels (Barcelona), Spain
  2.ICREA-Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Passeig Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain
- Author bio：
  
  F. Javier García de Abajo (javier.garciadeabajo@nanophotonics.es)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-023-01361-6
  CLC：
- Received：09 September 2023，
  
  Revised：12 December 2023，
  
  Accepted：2023-12-13，
  
  Published Online：26 January 2024，
  
  Published：29 February 2024
- Accepted：
Scan QR Code
Velasco, C. I., Di Giulio, V. & García de Abajo, F. J. Radiative loss of coherence in free electrons: a long-range quantum phenomenon. Light: Science & Applications, 13, 294-301 (2024).
DOI：

Velasco, C. I., Di Giulio, V. & García de Abajo, F. J. Radiative loss of coherence in free electrons: a long-range quantum phenomenon. Light: Science & Applications, 13, 294-301 (2024). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-023-01361-6.

摘要

Abstract

Quantum physics rules the dynamics of small objects as they interact over microscopic length scales. Nevertheless

quantum correlations involving macroscopic distances can be observed between entangled photons as well as in atomic gases and matter waves at low temperatures. The long-range nature of the electromagnetic coupling between charged particles and extended objects could also trigger quantum phenomena over large distances. Here

we reveal a manifestation of quantum mechanics that involves macroscopic distances and results in a nearly complete depletion of coherence associated with which-way free-electron interference produced by electron–radiation coupling in the presence of distant extended objects. This is a ubiquitous effect that we illustrate through a rigorous theoretical analysis of a two-path electron beam interacting with a semi-infinite metallic plate and find the inter-path coherence to vanish proportionally to the path separation at zero temperature and exponentially at finite temperature. The investigated regime of large distances originates in the coupling of the electron to radiative modes assisted by diffraction at material structures but without any involvement of material excitations. Besides the fundamental interest of this macroscopic quantum phenomenon

our results suggest an approach to measuring the vacuum temperature and nondestructively sensing the presence of distant objects.

关键词

Keywords

references

Egerton, R. F. Physical Principles of Electron Microscopy: An Introduction to TEM, SEM, and AEM (Springer, New York, 2005).

Muller, D. A. et al. Atomic-scale chemical imaging of composition and bonding by aberration-corrected microscopy. Science 319 , 1073–1076 (2008)..

Davisson, C. & Germer, L. H. Diffraction of electrons by a crystal of nickle. Phys. Rev. 30 , 705–740 (1927)..

Pendry, J. B. Low Energy Electron Diffraction (Academic Press, London, 1974).

Rehr, J. J., Schattke, W., García de Abajo, F. J., Díez Muiño, R. & Van Hove, M. A. Development of the scattering theory of x-ray absorption and core level photoemission. J. Electron Spectrosc. Relat. Phenom. 126 , 67–76 (2002)..

Wolter, B. et al. Ultrafast electron diffraction imaging of bond breaking in di-ionized acetylene. Science 354 , 308–312 (2016)..

Filippetto, D. et al. Ultrafast electron diffraction: visualizing dynamic states of matter. Rev. Mod. Phys. 94 , 045004 (2022)..

Anglin, J. R., Paz, J. P. & Zurek, W. H. Deconstructing decoherence. Phys. Rev. A 55 , 4041–4053 (1997)..

Mazzitelli, F. D., Paz, J. P. & Villanueva, A. Decoherence and recoherence from vacuum fluctuations near a conducting plate. Phys. Rev. A 68 , 062106 (2003)..

Levinson, Y. Decoherence of electron beams by electromagnetic field fluctuations. J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 37 , 3003–3017 (2004)..

Hsiang, J. -T. & Lee, D. -S. Influence on electron coherence from quantum electromagnetic fields in the presence of conducting plates. Phys. Rev. D 73 , 065022 (2006)..

Machnikowski, P. Theor y of which path dephasing in single electron interference due to trace in conductive environment. Phys. Rev. B 73 , 155109 (2006)..

Howie, A. Mechanisms of decoherence in electron microscopy. Ultramicroscopy 111 , 761–767 (2011)..

Scheel, S. & Buhmann, S. Y. Path decoherence of charged and neutral particles near surfaces. Phys. Rev. A 85 , 030101 (2012)..

Sonnentag, P. & Hasselbach, F. Measurement of decoherence of electron waves and visualization of the quantum-classical transition. Phys. Rev. Lett. 98 , 200402 (2007)..

Hasselbach, F. Progress in electron- and ion-interferometry. Rep. Prog. Phys. 73 , 016101 (2010)..

Beierle, P. J., Zhang, L. & Batelaan, H. Experimental test of decoherence theory using electron matter waves. New J. Phys. 20 , 113030 (2018)..

Kerker, N., Röpke, R., Steinert, L. M., Pooch, A. & Stibor, A. Quantum decoherence by Coulomb interaction. New J. Phys. 22 , 063039 (2020)..

Chen, Z. & Batelaan, H. Dephasing due to semi-conductor charging masks decoherence in electron-wall systems. Europhys. Lett. 129 , 40004 (2020)..

Uhlemann, S., Müller, H., Hartel, P., Zach, J. & Haider, M. Thermal magnetic field noise limits resolution in transmission electron microscopy. Phys. Rev. Lett. 111 , 046101 (2013)..

Uhlemann, S., Müller, H., Zach, J. & Haider, M. Thermal magnetic field noise: electron optics and decoherence. Ultramicroscopy 151 , 199–210 (2015)..

Martinetz, L., Hornberger, K. & Stickler, B. A. Surface-induced decoherence and heating of charged particles. Phys. Rev. X 3 , 030327 (2022)..

Ford, L. H. Electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations and electron coherence. Phys. Rev. D 47 , 5571–5580 (1993)..

Ford, L. H. Electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations and electron coherence. Ⅱ. Effects of wave-packet size. Phys. Rev. A 56 , 1812–1818 (1997)..

Breuer, H. P. & Petruccione, F. Destruction o f quantum coherence through emission of bremsstrahlung. Phys. Rev. A 63 , 032102 (2001)..

Hsiang, J. -T. & Ford, L. H. External time-varying field and electron coherence. Phys. Rev. Lett. 92 , 250402 (2004)..

Alvarez, E. & Mazzitelli, F. D. Decoherence induced by Smith-Purcell radiation. Phys. Rev. A 77 , 032113 (2008)..

Hsiang, J. -T. & Ford, L. H. Recoherence by squeezed states in electron interferometry. Phys. Rev. D 78 , 065012 (2008)..

Zeilinger, A. Experiment and the foundations of quantum physics. Rev. Mod. Phys. 71 , S288–S297 (1999)..

Ma, X., Kofler, J. & Zeilinger, A. Delayed-choice gedanken experiments and their realizations. Rev. Mod. Phys. 88 , 015005 (2016)..

Lichte, H. & Freitag, B. Inelastic electron holography. Ultramicroscopy 81 , 177–186 (2000)..

Herring, R. A. Energy-filtered electron-diffracted beam holography. Ultramicroscopy 104 , 261–270 (2005)..

Verbeeck, J., Bertoni, G. & Schattschneider, P. The Fresnel effect of a defocused biprism on the fringes in inelastic holography. Ultramicroscopy 108 , 263–269 (2008)..

Schattschneider, P. & Löffler, S. Entanglement and decoherence in electron microscopy. Ultramicroscopy 190 , 39–44 (2018)..

Barwick, B., Flannigan, D. J. & Zewail, A. H. Photon-induced near-field electron microscopy. Nature 462 , 902–906 (2009)..

García de Abajo, F. J., Asenjo-Garcia, A. & Kociak, M. Multiphoton absorption and emission by interaction of swift electrons with evanescent light fields. Nano Lett. 10 , 1859–1863 (2010)..

Feist, A. et al. Quantum coherent optical phase modulation in an ultrafast transmission electron microscope. Nature 521 , 200–203 (2015)..

García de Abajo, F. J. & Ropers, C. Spatiotemporal electron beam focusing through parallel interactions with shaped optical fields. Phys. Rev. Lett. 130 , 246901 (2023)..

Di Giulio, V. & García de Abajo, F. J. Electron diffraction by vacuum fluctuations. New J. Phys. 22 , 103057 (2020)..

García de Abajo, F. J. Optical emission from the interaction of fast electrons with metallic films containing a circular aperture: A study of radiative decoherence of fast electrons. Phys. Rev. Lett. 102 , 237401 (2009)..

Lehmann, M. & Lichte, H. Tutorial on off-axis electron holography. Micros. Microanal. 8 , 447–466 (2002)..

Winkler, F. et al. Absolute scale quantitative off-axis electron holography at atomic resolution. Phys. Rev. Lett. 120 , 156101 (2018)..

Horodecki, R., Horodecki, Paweł., Horodecki, Michał. & Horodecki, K. Quantum entanglement. Rev. Mod. Phys. 81 , 865–942 (2009)..

Togan, E. et al. Quantum entanglement between an optical photon and a solid-state spin qubit. Nature 466 , 730–734 (2010)..

Monroe, C., Meekhof, D . M., King, B. E. & Wineland, D. J. A "Schrödinger cat" superposition state of an atom. Science 272 , 1131–1136 (1996)..

Brune, M. et al. Observing the progressive decoherence of the "meter" in a quantum measurement. Phys. Rev. Lett. 77 , 4887–4890 (1996)..

García de Abajo, F. J. Multiple excitation of confined graphene plasmons by single free electrons. ACS Nano 7 , 11409–11419 (2013)..

Gradshteyn, I. S. and Ryzhik, I. M. Table of Integrals, Series, and Products (Academic Press, London, 2007).

Johnson, C. W., Turner, A. E. & McMorran, B. J. Scanning two-grating free electron Mach-Zehnder interferometer. Phys. Rev. Research 3 , 043009 (2021)..

Johnson, C. W., Turner, A. E., García de Abajo, F. J. & McMorran, B. J. Inelastic Mach-Zehnder interferometry with free electrons. Phys. Rev. Lett. 128 , 147401 (2022)..

Views

Downloads

CSCD

Alert me when the article has been cited

Submit

Tools

Publicity Resources

No data

Related Author

No data

Related Institution

No data

⁰