Abstract
Free electrons with a helical phase front, referred to as "twisted" electrons, possess an orbital angular momentum (OAM) and, hence, a quantized magnetic dipole moment along their propagation direction. This intrinsic magnetic moment can be used to probe material properties. Twisted electrons thus have numerous potential applications in materials science. Measuring this quantity often relies on a series of projective measurements that subsequently change the OAM carried by the electrons. In this Letter, we propose a nondestructive way of measuring an electron beam's OAM through the interaction of this associated magnetic dipole with a conductive loop. Such an interaction results in the generation of induced currents within the loop, which are found to be directly proportional to the electron's OAM value. Moreover, the electron experiences no OAM variations and only minimal energy losses upon the measurement, and, hence, the nondestructive nature of the proposed technique.
Highlights
Free electrons with a helical phase front, referred to as “twisted” electrons, possess an orbital angular momentum (OAM) and, a quantized magnetic dipole moment along their propagation direction
Twisted electrons have numerous potential applications in materials science. Measuring this quantity often relies on a series of projective measurements that subsequently change the OAM carried by the electrons
Holograms, and magnetic needles [5] have experimentally been shown to generate such electron beams. These electron beams possess quantized OAM and circulating current densities Jφ in a plane orthogonal to their propagation direction. It follows that these current densities cause twisted electron beams to carry a magnetic dipole moment lμB in addition to their intrinsic spin magnetic dipole moment ÆμB, where μB is the Bohr magneton [6]
Summary
Free electrons with a helical phase front, referred to as “twisted” electrons, possess an orbital angular momentum (OAM) and, a quantized magnetic dipole moment along their propagation direction. In this Letter, we propose a nondestructive way of measuring an electron beam’s OAM through the interaction of this associated magnetic dipole with a conductive loop. Such an interaction results in the generation of induced currents within the loop, which are found to be directly proportional to the electron’s OAM value.
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