Abstract
Electron beam shaping by sculpted thin films relies on electron–matter interactions and the wave nature of electrons. It can be used to study physical phenomena of special electron beams and to develop technological applications in electron microscopy that offer new and improved measurement techniques and increased resolution in different imaging modes. In this Perspective, we review recent applications of sculpted thin films for electron orbital angular momentum sorting, improvements in phase contrast transmission electron microscopy, and aberration correction. For the latter, we also present new results of our work toward correction of the spherical aberration of Lorentz scanning transmission electron microscopes and suggest a method to correct chromatic aberration using thin films. This review provides practical insight for researchers in the field and motivates future progress in electron microscopy.
Highlights
Electron beam shaping by sculpted thin films relies on electron−matter interactions and the wave nature of electrons
A recent example based on electrostatic fields is that of a programmable phase plate for electrons, which is made from an array of electrostatic elements,[11] in analogy to spatial light modulators in light optics
In the Applications section, we show how such masks have been used for different applications such as sorting of beams according to their orbital angular momentum and structured illumination microscopy
Summary
2π /λB is the de Broglie wavenumber of the electron. The paraxial Helmholtz equation is used to describe the propagation of light beams in the Fresnel approximation. The use of sculpted thin films to shape electron beams is becoming increasingly popular because the short electron wavelength, on the picometer scale, enables microscopy, scientific research, and material fabrication on much smaller scales than using light-based instruments The roots of this idea were planted more than 70 years ago when, in 1947, Boersch[19] suggested to induce a phase shift to an electron beam by using the MIP and the thickness of a material, as explained above. The temporal decoherence is manifested by the contribution varying thickness profiles or combinations of different of the chromatic aberration to the spot size It is given by materials are used to produce spatially varying phase shifts (eq 9), while maintaining a constant amplitude modulation. Mixed types of masks can be obtained if both the amplitude and the phase in the transmittance term vary spatially.[24]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
