Measuring the Orbital Angular Momentum of Electron Vortex Beams Using a Forked Grating
Abstract
The present study experimentally examines how an electron vortex beam with orbital angular momentum (OAM) undergoes diffraction through a forked grating. The nth-order diffracted electron vortex beam after passing through a forked grating with a Burgers vector of 1 shows an OAM transfer of nℏ. Hence, the diffraction patterns become mirror asymmetric owing to the size difference between the electron beams. Such a forked grating, when used in combination with a pinhole located at the diffraction plane, could act as an analyzer to measure the OAM of input electrons.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review Letters
- Pub Date:
- August 2013
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.074801
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1307.6304
- Bibcode:
- 2013PhRvL.111g4801S
- Keywords:
-
- 41.85.-p;
- 42.40.Eq;
- 42.50.Tx;
- Beam optics;
- Holographic optical elements;
- holographic gratings;
- Optical angular momentum and its quantum aspects;
- Quantum Physics
- E-Print:
- 5 pages, 3 figures