Limits of Elemental Contrast by Low Energy Electron Point Source Holography

Motivated by the need for less destructive imaging of nanostructures, we pursue point-source in-line holography (also known as point projection microscopy, or PPM) with very low energy electrons (-100 eV). This technique exploits the recent creation of ultrasharp and robust nanotips, which can field emit electrons from a single atom at their apex, thus creating a path to an extremely coherent source of electrons for holography. Our method has the potential to achieve atom resolved images of nanostructures including biological molecules. We demonstrate a further advantage of PPM emerging from the fact that the very low energy electrons employed experience a large elastic scattering cross section relative to many-keV electrons. Moreover, the variation of scattering factors as a function of atom type allows for enhanced elemental contrast. Low energy electrons arguably offer the further advantage of causing minimum damage to most materials. Model results for small molecules and adatoms on graphene substrates, where very small damage is expected, indicate that a phase contrast is obtainable between elements with significantly different Z-numbers. For example, for typical setup parameters, atoms such as C and P are discernible, while C and N are not.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure

Nanoscale structuring of tungsten tip yields most coherent electron point-source

This report demonstrates the most spatially-coherent electron source ever reported. A coherence angle of 14.3 +/- 0.5 degrees was measured, indicating a virtual source size of 1.7 +/-0.6 Angstrom using an extraction voltage of 89.5 V. The nanotips under study were crafted using a spatially-confined, field-assisted nitrogen etch which removes material from the periphery of the tip apex resulting in a sharp, tungsten-nitride stabilized, high-aspect ratio source. The coherence properties are deduced from holographic measurements in a low-energy electron point source microscope with a carbon nanotube bundle as sample. Using the virtual source size and emission current the brightness normalized to 100 kV is found to be 7.9x10^8 A/sr cm^2

Dangling-bond charge qubit on a silicon surface

Two closely spaced dangling bonds positioned on a silicon surface and sharing an excess electron are revealed to be a strong candidate for a charge qubit. Based on our study of the coherent dynamics of this qubit, its extremely high tunneling rate ~ 10^14 1/s greatly exceeds the expected decoherence rates for a silicon-based system, thereby overcoming a critical obstacle of charge qubit quantum computing. We investigate possible configurations of dangling bond qubits for quantum computing devices. A first-order analysis of coherent dynamics of dangling bonds shows promise in this respect.Comment: 17 pages, 3 EPS figures, 1 tabl

Covalently Functionalized Sawdust for the Remediation of Phosphate from Agricultural Wastewater

Phosphate remediation from wastewater is rapidly becoming an ever more attractive process due to a combination of both the economic pressure of increasing phosphate scarcity and the environmental damage caused by untreated agricultural runoff. Ideally, remediated phosphate will be recoverable and would be able to be reused as fertilizer. Many different resins have been investigated, but due to the scale of the challenge, any feasible solution will involve the use of very inexpensive waste products as the solid support. Sawdust, functionalized with iron-binding ligands, is such a potential resin. Sawdust alone binds 0.3 g/kg of phosphate which is insufficient. Iron has a strong affinity for phosphate, making the formation of iron-phosphate bonds a promising avenue for the development of recyclable resins. Previously prepared iron-chitosan complexes bound 8.2 g/kg. However, as the price of chitosan has rapidly increased, alternatives are required. In this current study, the covalent modification of the sawdust using either carboxymethylcellulose-supported ligands, or direct functionalization of the sawdust can increase this to 40 g/kg using ethylene diamine as the iron-binding ligand. Binding decreases over repeated cycles of phosphate exposure and elution, but can be fully restored through regeneration using iron salts. The simple green synthesis of this material, and the iron-binding capability of the investigated ligands is discussed. These sawdust-based resins show promise as potential candidates for industrial-scale phosphate recovery efforts in the future

Characterizing the rate and coherence of single-electron tunneling between two dangling bonds on the surface of silicon

We devise a scheme to characterize tunneling of an excess electron shared by a pair of tunnel-coupled dangling bonds on a silicon surface -- effectively a two-level system. Theoretical estimates show that the tunneling should be highly coherent but too fast to be measured by any conventional techniques. Our approach is instead to measure the time-averaged charge distribution of our dangling-bond pair by a capacitively coupled atomic-force-microscope tip in the presence of both a surface-parallel electrostatic potential bias between the two dangling bonds and a tunable midinfrared laser capable of inducing Rabi oscillations in the system. With a nonresonant laser, the time-averaged charge distribution in the dangling-bond pair is asymmetric as imposed by the bias. However, as the laser becomes resonant with the coherent electron tunneling in the biased pair the theory predicts that the time-averaged charge distribution becomes symmetric. This resonant symmetry effect should not only reveal the tunneling rate, but also the nature and rate of decoherence of single-electron dynamics in our system

Low Energy Electron Point Projection Microscopy of Suspended Graphene, the Ultimate "Microscope Slide"

Point Projection Microscopy (PPM) is used to image suspended graphene using low-energy electrons (100-200eV). Because of the low energies used, the graphene is neither damaged or contaminated by the electron beam. The transparency of graphene is measured to be 74%, equivalent to electron transmission through a sheet as thick as twice the covalent radius of sp^2-bonded carbon. Also observed is rippling in the structure of the suspended graphene, with a wavelength of approximately 26 nm. The interference of the electron beam due to the diffraction off the edge of a graphene knife edge is observed and used to calculate a virtual source size of 4.7 +/- 0.6 Angstroms for the electron emitter. It is demonstrated that graphene can be used as both anode and substrate in PPM in order to avoid distortions due to strong field gradients around nano-scale objects. Graphene can be used to image objects suspended on the sheet using PPM, and in the future, electron holography