Measurement of the Gouy phase anomaly for electron waves

Abstract

We measure the Gouy phase anomaly for matter waves using in-line holography to retrieve the full complex field of an astigmatic electron wave function. Sequential phase shifts of \ensuremath{\pi}/2 rad are observed for electron trajectories along the optic axis that pass through each line-focus caustic of subnanometer transverse width. Our observations demonstrate that anomalous phase shifts of matter waves in the vicinity of caustics can be robustly measured using phase retrieval, extending the current scope of singular electron optics.