No surprise in the first Born approximation for electron scattering

Abstract

In a recent article it is argued that the far-field expansion of electron scattering, a pillar of electron diffraction theory, is wrong (Treacy and Van Dyck, 2012). It is further argued that in the first Born approximation of electron scattering the intensity of the electron wave is not conserved to first order in the scattering potential. Thus a "mystery of the missing phase" is investigated, and the supposed flaw in scattering theory is seeked to be resolved by postulating a standing spherical electron wave (Treacy and Van Dyck, 2012). In this work we show, however, that these theses are wrong. A review of the essential parts of scattering theory with careful checks of the underlying assumptions and limitations for high-energy electron scattering yields: (1) the traditional form of the far-field expansion, comprising a propagating spherical wave, is correct; (2) there is no room for a missing phase; (3) in the first Born approximation the intensity of the scattered wave is conserved to first order in the scattering potential. The various features of high-energy electron scattering are illustrated by wave-mechanical calculations for an explicit target model, a Gaussian phase object, and for a Si atom, considering the geometric conditions in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy.