Electron diffraction of tilted perovskites

Simulations of electron diffraction patterns for each of the known perovskite tilt systems have been performed. The conditions for the appearance of superlattice reflections arising from rotations of the octahedra are modified to take into account the effects of different tilt systems for kinematical diffraction. The use of selected-area electron diffraction as a tool for perovskite structure determination is reviewed and examples are included

Ultrafast electron diffraction using an ultracold source

We present diffraction patterns from micron-sized areas of mono-crystalline graphite obtained with an ultracold and ultrafast electron source. We show that high spatial coherence is manifest in the visibility of the patterns even for picosecond bunches of appreciable charge, enabled by the extremely low source temperature (~ 10 K). For a larger, ~ 100 um spot size on the sample, spatial coherence lengths > 10 nm result, sufficient to resolve diffraction patterns of complex protein crystals. This makes the source ideal for ultrafast electron diffraction of complex macromolecular structures such as membrane proteins, in a regime unattainable by conventional photocathode sources. By further reducing the source size, sub-um spot sizes on the sample become possible with spatial coherence lengths exceeding 1 nm, enabling ultrafast nano-diffraction for material science.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Low-energy electron diffraction from disordered surfaces

Model calculations are presented of L E E D intensities diffracted by a onedimensionally disordered overlayer adsorbed on a well ordered substrate. Multiple scattering amplitudes are calculated by an extension of Beeby's multiple scattering method. The surface layers are divided into overlapping configurations of atoms, the diffraction of each of which is described by individual scattering amplitudes. In this way the surrounding of each adsorbed atom is divided into two parts: the immediate vicinity, in which multiple scattering is treated self-consistently, and the outer region which is represented by an averaged Τ matrix. The results of the model calculations indicate that the intensities are not correctly described if only averaged Τ matrices are used, and that in a first approximation the half-widths of the diffuse streaks observed in the experiment can be analysed using the kinematic theory

Fe3O4(110)-(1x3) Revisited: Periodic (111) Nano-Facets

The structure of the Fe3O4(110)-(1x3) surface was studied with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), and reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED). The so-called one-dimensional reconstruction is characterised by bright rows that extend hundreds of nanometers in the [1-10] direction and have a periodicity of 2.52 nm in [001] in STM. It is concluded that this reconstruction is the result of a periodic faceting to expose {111}-type planes with a lower surface energy.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Non-magnetic Stern-Gerlach Experiment from Electron Diffraction

Using the wave nature of the electrons, we demonstrate that a transverse spin current can be generated simply by the diffraction through a single slit in the spin-orbital coupling system of the two-dimensional electron gas. The diffracted electron picks up the transverse momentum. The up spin electron goes one way and the down spin electron goes the other, producing the coherent spin current. In the system of spin-orbital coupling $\sim10^{-13}$ eV$\cdot$m, the \emph{out-of-plane} component of the spin of the electron can be generated up to 0.42 $\hbar$. Based on this effect, a novel device of grating to distill spin is designed. Two first diffraction peaks of electron carry different spins, duplicating the non-magnetic version of Stern-Gerlach experiment. The direction of the spin current can be controlled by the gate voltage with low energy cost.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Concept of a laser-plasma based electron source for sub-10 fs electron diffraction

We propose a new concept of an electron source for ultrafast electron diffraction with sub-10~fs temporal resolution. Electrons are generated in a laser-plasma accelerator, able to deliver femtosecond electron bunches at 5 MeV energy with kHz repetition rate. The possibility of producing this electron source is demonstrated using Particle-In-Cell simulations. We then use particle tracking simulations to show that this electron beam can be transported and manipulated in a realistic beamline, in order to reach parameters suitable for electron diffraction. The beamline consists of realistic static magnetic optics and introduces no temporal jitter. We demonstrate numerically that electron bunches with 5~fs duration and containing 1.5~fC per bunch can be produced, with a transverse coherence length exceeding 2~nm, as required for electron diffraction

Single-Shot Electron Diffraction using a Cold Atom Electron Source

Cold atom electron sources are a promising alternative to traditional photocathode sources for use in ultrafast electron diffraction due to greatly reduced electron temperature at creation, and the potential for a corresponding increase in brightness. Here we demonstrate single-shot, nanosecond electron diffraction from monocrystalline gold using cold electron bunches generated in a cold atom electron source. The diffraction patterns have sufficient signal to allow registration of multiple single-shot images, generating an averaged image with significantly higher signal-to-noise ratio than obtained with unregistered averaging. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) was also demonstrated, showing that cold atom electron sources may be useful in resolving nanosecond dynamics of nanometre scale near-surface structures.Comment: This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article published in Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The Version of Record is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0953-4075/48/21/21400

Antiferromagnetism in NiO Observed by Transmission Electron Diffraction

Neutron diffraction has been used to investigate antiferromagnetism since 1949. Here we show that antiferromagnetic reflections can also be seen in transmission electron diffraction patterns from NiO. The diffraction patterns taken here came from regions as small as 10.5 nm and such patterns could be used to form an image of the antiferromagnetic structure with a nanometre resolution.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures. Typos corrected. To appear in Physical Review Letter

Quantum games with a multi-slit electron diffraction setup

A setup is proposed to play a quantum version of the famous bimatrix game of Prisoners' Dilemma. Multi-slit electron diffraction with each player's pure strategy consisting of opening one of the two slits at his/her disposal are essential features of the setup. Instead of entanglement the association of waves with travelling material objects is suggested as another resource to play quantum games.Comment: Latex, 7 pages, 2 eps figures, submitted to Physics Letters

Characteristics of Precession Electron Diffraction Intensities from Dynamical Simulations

Precession Electron Diffraction (PED) offers a number of advantages for crystal structure analysis and solving unknown structures using electron diffraction. The current article uses many-beam simulations of PED intensities, in combination with model structures, to arrive at a better understanding of how PED differs from standard unprecessed electron diffraction. It is shown that precession reduces the chaotic oscillatory behavior of electron diffraction intensities as a function of thickness. An additional characteristic of PED which is revealed by simulations is reduced sensitivity to structure factor phases. This is shown to be a general feature of dynami-cal intensities collected under conditions in which patterns with multiple incident beam orienta-tions are averaged together. A new and significantly faster method is demonstrated for dynami-cal calculations of PED intensities, based on using information contained in off-central columns of the scattering matrix.Comment: 20 pages, 7 Figure