Delay-line Detector Research Articles

Spectroscopic coincidence experiments in transmission electron microscopy

We demonstrate the feasibility of coincidence measurements on a conventional transmission electron microscope, revealing the temporal correlation between electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy events. We make use of a delay line detector with ps-range time resolution attached to a modified EELS spectrometer. We demonstrate that coincidence between both events, related to the excitation and deexcitation of atoms in a crystal, provides added information not present in the individual EELS or EDX spectra. In particular, the method provides EELS with a significantly suppressed or even removed background, overcoming the many difficulties with conventional parametric background fitting as it uses no assumptions on the shape of the background, requires no user input and does not suffer from counting noise originating from the background signal. This is highly attractive, especially when low concentrations of elements need to be detected in a matrix of other elements.

High-Speed Neutron Imaging Using a Current-Biased Delay-Line Detector of Kinetic Inductance

Recent progress in the development of intensive neutron sources and the required peripheral equipment has enabled high-spatial-resolution neutron imaging that is simultaneously energy-resolved. The authors demonstrate a high-speed neutron-imaging system with a cutting-edge superconducting detector. This detector has the potential not just for applications requiring high spatial resolution, but also for two-dimensional detectors for other kinds of beams, by adopting an adequate conversion layer.

The structure of alanine anionic-zwitterionic dimers on Pd(111); formation of salt bridges

The structure of alanine zwitterion-anion dimers previously proposed to form on Pd(111) is investigated using low-energy electron diffraction (LEED). Because of the propensity of amino acids on Pd(111) to undergo electron-beam-induced decomposition, LEED intensity versus beam voltage (I-V) curves were measured using a delay line detector LEED (DLD-LEED) system, which enables the complete LEED I-V curves to be obtained for an electron exposure of less than one electron per adsorbate. Since no long-range order is found following alanine adsorption on Pd(111), the adsorbate structure is determined from the substrate diffraction spots. The I-V data were analyzed using the CLEED: Automated Surface Structure package for an initial input structure from previous DFT calculations of the alanine zwitterion-anion dimer, the best fit structure yielded a satisfactory Pendry R-factor of 0.249, thus confirming the correctness of the originally proposed structure. Such anionic-zwitterionic dimers are a class of hydrogen-bonding intermolecular interactions in proteins that are dominated by direct electrostatic interactions, in particular for residues such a lysine and arginine, known as salt bridges. While such salt bridges interactions are relatively weak in biological systems, the attractive interaction energy between the anion and the zwitterion in the dimer on Pd(111) in vacuo is found to be ∼95 kJ/mol. It is proposed that the weaker binding biological systems occurs because the electrostatic screening in aqueous media weakens the electrostatic interaction between the anion and zwitterion, causing their structures to relax.

E2: The Flat-Cone Diffractometer at BER II

The flat-cone diffractometer E2 at the research reactor BER II is a thermal neutron single-crystal diffractometer for 3D reciprocal space mapping by using four delay-line area detectors (300 × 300 mm2). Alternatively it is suitable for powder measurements with medium resolution and broad 2-theta scattering range.

New Developments of the Materials Science Diffractometer STRESS-SPEC

The high flux neutron diffractometer STRESSSPEC at FRM II, Garching Germany, offers a flexible instrument setup suitable for fast and surface residual strain measurements. Likewise bulk, local or gradient texture analyses are feasible. Here improvements of the hardware (detector, slits) of the instrument as well as developments on methods for residual stress analysis are presented. A new detector system developed inhouse was recently installed and successfully commissioned. Compared to the original delay line detector the new detector provides much higher resolution and allows event mode type measurements. Results of the commissioning measurements show a performance increase of nearly a factor of 2 compared to the former detector. Moreover the new analytical model, recently developed for surface spurious strain corrections, was successfully applied at a welded austenitic steel sample. Thus nondestructive measurements from the surface (200 μm) into the bulk (several millimeters) are possible without any extra time consuming experiments for spurious strains corrections.

Extraction dynamics of electrons from magneto-optically trapped atoms

Pulsed photoionization of laser-cooled atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) has the potential to create cold electron beams of few meV bandwidths and few ps pulse lengths. Such a source would be highly attractive for the study of fast low-energy processes like coherent phonon excitation. To study the suitability of MOT-based sources for the production of simultaneously cold and fast electrons, we study the photoionization dynamics of trapped Cs atoms. A momentum-microscope-like setup with a delay-line detector allows for the simultaneous measurement of spatial and temporal electron distributions. The measured patterns are complex, due to the Lorentz force inducing spiral trajectories. Ray-tracing simulations reproduce the main features. We find that the production of electron bunches with bandwidths of a few meV is straightforward; however, pulses in the ps-range are more demanding and require beam blanking or partial blocking.

Coincidence velocity map imaging using a single detector.

We demonstrate a single-detector velocity map imaging setup which is capable of rapidly switching between coincidence and non-coincidence measurements. By rapidly switching the extraction voltages on the electrostatic lenses, both electrons and ions can be collected in coincidence with a single detector. Using a fast camera as the 2D detector avoids the saturation problem associated with traditional delay line detectors and allows for easy transitions between coincidence and non-coincidence data collection modes. This is a major advantage in setting up a low-cost and versatile coincidence apparatus. We present both coincidence and non-coincidence measurements of strong field atomic and molecular ionization.

A high resolution ion microscope for cold atoms

We report on an ion-optical system that serves as a microscope for ultracold ground state and Rydberg atoms. The system is designed to achieve a magnification of up to 1000 and a spatial resolution in the 100 nm range, thereby surpassing many standard imaging techniques for cold atoms. The microscope consists of four electrostatic lenses and a microchannel plate in conjunction with a delay line detector in order to achieve single particle sensitivity with high temporal and spatial resolution. We describe the design process of the microscope including ion-optical simulations of the imaging system and characterize aberrations and the resolution limit. Furthermore, we present the experimental realization of the microscope in a cold atom setup and investigate its performance by patterned ionization with a structure size down to 2.7 μm. The microscope meets the requirements for studying various many-body effects, ranging from correlations in cold quantum gases up to Rydberg molecule formation.

Vibrational dephasing in matter-wave interferometers

Matter-wave interferometry is a highly sensitive tool to measure small perturbations in a quantum system. This property allows the creation of precision sensors for dephasing mechanisms such as mechanical vibrations. They are a challenge for phase measurements under perturbing conditions that cannot be perfectly decoupled from the interferometer, e.g. for mobile interferometric devices or vibrations with a broad frequency range. Here, we demonstrate a method based on second-order correlation theory in combination with Fourier analysis, to use an electron interferometer as a sensor that precisely characterizes the mechanical vibration spectrum of the interferometer. Using the high spatial and temporal single-particle resolution of a delay line detector, the data allows to reveal the original contrast and spatial periodicity of the interference pattern from ‘washed-out’ matter-wave interferograms that have been vibrationally disturbed in the frequency region between 100 and 1000 Hz. Other than with electromagnetic dephasing, due to excitations of higher harmonics and additional frequencies induced from the environment, the parts in the setup oscillate with frequencies that can be different to the applied ones. The developed numerical search algorithm is capable to determine those unknown oscillations and corresponding amplitudes. The technique can identify vibrational dephasing and decrease damping and shielding requirements in electron, ion, neutron, atom and molecule interferometers that generate a spatial fringe pattern on the detector plane.

High performance charge-state resolving ion energy analyzer optimized for intense laser studies on low-density cluster targets.

We report on a versatile ion analyzer which is capable to resolve ion charge states and energies with a resolution of E/ΔE = 100 at 75 keV/nucleon. Charge states are identified by their characteristic deflection in a magnetic field, whereas the ion energies are independently determined by a time-of-flight measurement. To monitor the signals a delay-line detector is used which records ion impact positions and times in each laser shot. Compared to conventional Thomson parabola spectrometers our instrument provides a low background measurement, hence a superior dynamic range. Further features are an improved energy resolution and a significantly increased transmission. We demonstrate the performance by showing charge-state resolved ion energy spectra from the Coulomb explosion of a low-density target, i.e., silver clusters exposed to intense femtosecond laser pulses.

STEM Strain Measurement From a Stream of Diffraction Patterns Recorded on a Pixel-Free Delay-Line Detector

STEM Strain Measurement From a Stream of Diffraction Patterns Recorded on a Pixel-Free Delay-Line Detector

Development of hard X-ray photoelectron SPLEED-based spectrometer applicable for probing of buried magnetic layer valence states

A novel design of high-voltage compatible polarimeter for spin-resolved hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (Spin-HAXPES) went into operation at beamline BL09XU of SPring-8 in Hyogo, Japan. The detector is based on the well-established principle of electron diffraction from a W(001) single-crystal at a scattering energy of 103.5eV. It's special feature is that it can be operated at a high negative bias potential up to 10kV, necessary to access the HAXPES range. The polarimeter is operated behind a large hemispherical analyzer (Scienta R-4000). It was optimized for high transmission of the transfer optics. A delay-line detector (20mm dia.) is positioned at the exit plane of the analyzer enabling conventional multichannel intensity spectroscopy simultaneously with single-channel spin analysis. The performance of the combined setup is demonstrated by the spin-resolved data for the valence-region of a FeCo functional layer of a tunneling device, buried beneath 3nm of oxidic material. The well-structured spin polarization spectrum validates Spin-HAXPES in the valence energy range as powerful method for bulk electronic structure analysis. The spin polarization spectrum exhibits a rich structure, originating from clearly discernible transitions in the majority and minority partial spin spectra.

Sequential Filtering Processes Shape Feature Detection in Crickets: A Framework for Song Pattern Recognition.

Intraspecific acoustic communication requires filtering processes and feature detectors in the auditory pathway of the receiver for the recognition of species-specific signals. Insects like acoustically communicating crickets allow describing and analysing the mechanisms underlying auditory processing at the behavioral and neural level. Female crickets approach male calling song, their phonotactic behavior is tuned to the characteristic features of the song, such as the carrier frequency and the temporal pattern of sound pulses. Data from behavioral experiments and from neural recordings at different stages of processing in the auditory pathway lead to a concept of serially arranged filtering mechanisms. These encompass a filter for the carrier frequency at the level of the hearing organ, and the pulse duration through phasic onset responses of afferents and reciprocal inhibition of thoracic interneurons. Further, processing by a delay line and coincidence detector circuit in the brain leads to feature detecting neurons that specifically respond to the species-specific pulse rate, and match the characteristics of the phonotactic response. This same circuit may also control the response to the species-specific chirp pattern. Based on these serial filters and the feature detecting mechanism, female phonotactic behavior is shaped and tuned to the characteristic properties of male calling song.

Low-kilovolt coherent electron diffractive imaging instrument based on a single-atom electron source

In this work, a transmission-type, low-kilovolt coherent electron diffractive imaging instrument was constructed. It comprised a single-atom field emitter, a triple-element electrostatic lens, a sample holder, and a retractable delay line detector to record the diffraction patterns at different positions behind the sample. It was designed to image materials thinner than 3 nm. The authors analyzed the asymmetric triple-element electrostatic lens for focusing the electron beams and achieved a focused beam spot of 87 nm on the sample plane at the electron energy of 2 kV. High-angle coherent diffraction patterns of a suspended graphene sample corresponding to (0.62 Å)−1 were recorded. This work demonstrated the potential of coherent diffractive imaging of thin two-dimensional materials, biological molecules, and nano-objects at a voltage between 1 and 10 kV. The ultimate goal of this instrument is to achieve atomic resolution of these materials with high contrast and little radiation damage.

Multifrequency perturbations in matter-wave interferometry

High contrast matter-wave interferometry is essential in various fundamental quantum mechanical experiments as well as for technical applications. Thereby, contrast and sensitivity are typically reduced by decoherence and dephasing effects. While decoherence accounts for a general loss of quantum information in a system due to entanglement with the environment, dephasing is due to collective time-dependent external phase shifts, which can be related to temperature drifts, mechanical vibrations or electromagnetic oscillations. In contrast to decoherence, dephasing can in principle be reversed. Here, we demonstrate in experiment and theory a method for the analysis and reduction of the influence of dephasing noise and perturbations consisting of several external frequencies in an electron interferometer. This technique uses the high spatial and temporal resolution of a delay line detector to reveal and remove dephasing perturbations by second order correlation analysis. It allows matter-wave experiments under perturbingly lab conditions and can be applied in principle to electron, atom, ion, neutron and molecule interferometers.

Chemically-specific time-resolved surface photovoltage spectroscopy: Carrier dynamics at the interface of quantum dots attached to a metal oxide

We describe a new experimental pump-probe methodology where a 2D delay-line detector enables fast (ns) monitoring of a narrow XPS spectrum in combination with a continuous pump laser. This has been developed at the TEMPO beamline at Synchrotron SOLEIL to enable the study of systems with intrinsically slow electron dynamics, and to complement faster measurements that use a fs laser as the pump. We demonstrate its use in a time-resolved study of the surface photovoltage of the m-plane ZnO (101¯0) surface which shows persistent photoconductivity, requiring monitoring periods on ms timescales and longer. We make measurements from this surface in the presence and absence of chemically-linked quantum dots (QDs), using type I PbS and type II CdSe/ZnSe (core/shell) QDs as examples. We monitor signals from both the ZnO substrate and the bound QDs during photoexcitation, yielding evidence for charge injection from the QDs into the ZnO. The chemical specificity of the technique allows us to observe differences in the extent to which the QD systems are influenced by the field of the surface depletion layer at the ZnO surface, which we attribute to differences in the band structure at the interface.

Two-dimensional strain mapping in semiconductors by nano-beam electron diffraction employing a delay-line detector

A delay-line detector is established for electron detection in the field of scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and applied to two-dimensional strain mapping in Si-based field effect transistors. We initially outline the functional principle of position-sensitive delay-line detection, based on highly accurate time measurements for electronic pulses travelling in meandering wires. In particular, the detector is a single-counting device essentially providing an infinite time stream of position-resolved events so that acquisition speed is not hindered by detector read-outs occurring in conventional charge-coupled devices. By scanning the STEM probe over stressor- and gate regions of a field effect transistor on a 100 × 100 raster, 10 000 diffraction patterns have been acquired within 3–6.5 min, depending on the scan speed. Evaluation of the 004 and 220 reflections yields lateral and vertical strain at a spatial resolution of 1.6 nm. Dose-dependent strain precisions of 1.2−1.8×10−3 could be achieved for frame times of 40 and 20 ms, respectively. Finally, the detector is characterised as to quantum efficiency and further scopes of application are outlined.

Photoionization and Velocity Map Imaging spectroscopy of atoms, molecules and clusters with Synchrotron and Free Electron Laser radiation at Elettra

Advances in laser and Synchrotron Radiation instrumentation are continuously boosting fundamental research on the electronic structure of matter. At Elettra the collaboration between several groups active in the field of atomic, molecular and cluster physics and the Instrumentation and Detector Laboratory has resulted in an experimental set-up that successfully tackles the challenges posed by the investigation of the electronic structure of isolated species in the gas phase. The use of Synchrotron Radiation (SR) and Free Electron Laser (FEL) light, allows to cover a wide spectrum of targets from energetic to dynamics. We developed a Velocity Map Imaging (VMI) spectrometer that allows to perform as well SR as FEL experiments, just by changing part of the detection system.In SR experiments, at the Gasphase beamline of Elettra, a cross delay line detector is used, coupled to a 4-channel time-to-digital converter that reconstructs the position of the electrons. Simultaneously, a Time-of-Flight (TOF) mass spectrometer is used to acquire photoion spectra. Such a system allows PhotoElectron-PhotoIon-Coincidence (PEPICO) spectroscopy of atoms, molecules and clusters. In FEL experiments (notably differing from SR experiments in the much higher rate of events produced and detected, which forces one to forfeit coincidence detection), at the Low Density Matter (LDM) beamline of FERMI, a Micro Channel Plate (MCP) a phosphor screen and a CCD camera are used instead, capable of shot-by-shot collection of practically all events, albeit without time resolution.

Slowing dynamics of a supersonic beam, simulation and experiments

In this paper we present numerical and experimental methods aimed to study the evolution in space and time of a slowed supersonic beam. These generic methods are applicable to a variety of beams and decelerating techniques. The present implemented experimental set up is based upon Zeeman slowing of a metastable atom beam. The detection uses a channel-electron multiplier and a delay-line detector allowing time-of-flight analysis and numerical image reconstruction. In particular a depopulation effect at the centre of the beam is evidenced. In view of quantifying the slowing process, Monte Carlo calculations based on rate-equations are detailed.

Isotope effect in dissociative electron attachment to H2 at 4 eV

SynopsisWe report dissociative electron attachment cross sections for H2 and D2 at 4 eV and 14 eV resonances. The efficient signal-background separation, that has been enabled by utilizing time-and-position sensitive delayline detector, reveals the isotope effect that is much stronger than previously believed.