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Interference experiment with asymmetric double slit by using 1.2-MV field emission transmission electron microscope.

Author
Abstract
:

Advanced electron microscopy technologies have made it possible to perform precise double-slit interference experiments. We used a 1.2-MV field emission electron microscope providing coherent electron waves and a direct detection camera system enabling single-electron detections at a sub-second exposure time. We developed a method to perform the interference experiment by using an asymmetric double-slit fabricated by a focused ion beam instrument and by operating the microscope under a "pre-Fraunhofer" condition, different from the Fraunhofer condition of conventional double-slit experiments. Here, pre-Fraunhofer condition means that each single-slit observation was performed under the Fraunhofer condition, while the double-slit observations were performed under the Fresnel condition. The interference experiments with each single slit and with the asymmetric double slit were carried out under two different electron dose conditions: high-dose for calculation of electron probability distribution and low-dose for each single electron distribution. Finally, we exemplified the distribution of single electrons by color-coding according to the above three types of experiments as a composite image.

Year of Publication
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2018
Journal
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Scientific reports
Volume
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8
Issue
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1
Number of Pages
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1008
Date Published
:
2018
URL
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-19380-4
DOI
:
10.1038/s41598-018-19380-4
Short Title
:
Sci Rep
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