Electron Beam Excitation Research Articles

Transformation Optics: A Time- and Frequency-Domain Analysis of Electron-Energy Loss Spectroscopy.

Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and cathodoluminescence (CL) play a pivotal role in many of the cutting edge experiments in plasmonics. EELS and CL experiments are usually supported by numerical simulations, which-though accurate-may not provide as much physical insight as analytical calculations do. Fully analytical solutions to EELS and CL systems in plasmonics are rare and difficult to obtain. This paper aims to narrow this gap by introducing a new method based on transformation optics that allows to calculate the quasistatic frequency- and time-domain response of plasmonic particles under electron beam excitation. We study a nonconcentric annulus (and ellipse in the Supporting Information ) as an example.

High-Output-Power Ultraviolet Light Source from Quasi-2D GaN Quantum Structure.

Quasi-2D GaN layers inserted in an AlGaN matrix are proposed as a novel active region to develop a high-output-power UV light source. Such a structure is successfully achieved by precise control in molecular beam epitaxy and shows an amazing output power of ≈160 mW at 285 nm with a pulsed electron-beam excitation. This device is promising and competitive in non-line-of-sight communications or the sterilization field.

A high efficiency Ku-band radial line relativistic klystron amplifier

To achieve the gigawatt-level microwave amplification output at Ku-band, a radial-line relativistic klystron amplifier is proposed and investigated in this paper. Different from the annular electron beam in conventional axial relativistic klystron amplifiers, a radial-radiated electron beam is employed in this proposed klystron. Owing to its radially spreading speciality, the electron density and space charge effect are markedly weakened during the propagation in the radial line drift tube. Additionally, the power capacity, especially in the output cavity, is enhanced significantly because of its large volume, which is profitable for the long pulse operation. Particle-in-cell simulation results demonstrate that a high power microwave with the power of 3 GW and the frequency of 14.25 GHz is generated with a 500 kV, 12 kA electron beam excitation and the 30 kW radio-frequency signal injection. The power conversion efficiency is 50%, and the gain is about 50 dB. Meanwhile, there is insignificant electron beam self-excitation in the proposed structure by the adoption of two transverse electromagnetic reflectors. The relative phase difference between the injected signals and output microwaves keeps stable after the amplifier saturates.

High-Energy Surface and Volume Plasmons in Nanopatterned Sub-10 nm Aluminum Nanostructures.

In this work, we use electron energy-loss spectroscopy to map the complete plasmonic spectrum of aluminum nanodisks with diameters ranging from 3 to 120 nm fabricated by high-resolution electron-beam lithography. Our nanopatterning approach allows us to produce localized surface plasmon resonances across a wide spectral range spanning 2-8 eV. Electromagnetic simulations using the finite element method support the existence of dipolar, quadrupolar, and hexapolar surface plasmon modes as well as centrosymmetric breathing modes depending on the location of the electron-beam excitation. In addition, we have developed an approach using nanolithography that is capable of meV control over the energy and attosecond control over the lifetime of volume plasmons in these nanodisks. The precise measurement of volume plasmon lifetime may also provide an opportunity to probe and control the DC electrical conductivity of highly confined metallic nanostructures. Lastly, we show the strong influence of the nanodisk boundary in determining both the energy and lifetime of surface plasmons and volume plasmons locally across individual aluminum nanodisks, and we have compared these observations to similar effects produced by scaling the nanodisk diameter.

Cell structure imaging with bright and homogeneous nanometric light source.

Label-free optical nano-imaging of dendritic structures and intracellular granules in biological cells is demonstrated using a bright and homogeneous nanometric light source. The optical nanometric light source is excited using a focused electron beam. A zinc oxide (ZnO) luminescent thin film was fabricated by atomic layer deposition (ALD) to produce the nanoscale light source. The ZnO film formed by ALD emitted the bright, homogeneous light, unlike that deposited by another method. The dendritic structures of label-free macrophage receptor with collagenous structure-expressing CHO cells were clearly visualized below the diffraction limit. The inner fiber structure was observed with 120nm spatial resolution. Because the bright homogeneous emission from the ZnO film suppresses the background noise, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for the imaging results was greater than 10. The ALD method helps achieve an electron beam excitation assisted microscope with high spatial resolution and high SNR.

Local Field Enhancement-Induced Enriched Cathodoluminescence Behavior from CuI-RGO Nanophosphor Composite for Field-Emission Display Applications.

Field-emission displays (FEDs) constitute one of the major foci of the cutting edge materials research because of the increasingly escalating demand for high-resolution display panels. However, poor efficiencies of the concurrent low voltage cathodoluminescence (CL) phosphors have created a serious bottleneck in the commercialization of such devices. Herein we report a novel CuI-RGO composite nanophosphor that exhibits bright red emission under low voltage electron beam excitation. Quantitative assessment of CL spectra reveals that CuI-RGO nanocomposite phosphor leads to the 4-fold enhancement in the CL intensity as compared to the pristine CuI counterpart. Addition of RGO in the CuI matrix facilitates efficient triggering of luminescence centers that are activated by local electric field enhancement at the CuI-RGO contact points. In addition, conducting RGO also reduces the negative loading problem on the surface of the nanophosphor composite. The concept presented here opens up a novel generic route for enhancing CL intensity of the existing (nano)phosphors as well as validates the bright prospects of the CuI-RGO composite nanophosphor in this rapidly growing field.

Investigations on photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence properties of Ca3La6(SiO4)6:Tb3 +, Mn2 +

Tb3+/Mn2+ activated Ca3La6(SiO4)6 (CLS) phosphors were prepared by solid-state reaction method, and their photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence (CL) properties were investigated. The CLS:Tb3+ sample shows a yellowish green emission under 377nm excitation, and the excitation spectrum reveals the excitation peaks between 340 and 390nm can match with the near-ultraviolet LED chip. Excellent thermal stability has been obtained in the CLS:Tb3+ phosphor by studying the temperature dependence of the Tb3+ emission intensity. By introducing Mn2+ into CLS:Tb3+, tunable emissions are generated due to the efficient energy transfer from Tb3+ to Mn2+. The CL spectrum of CLS:Tb3+ displays that the characteristic 5D4-7FJ (J=6−3) transitions of Tb3+ are found under electron beam excitation. The above investigation results imply that the CLS:Tb3+, Mn2+ phosphors could have potential applications on LEDs and FEDs.

Photoluminescence and electron-beam excitation induced cathodoluminescence properties of novel green-emitting Ba4La6O(SiO4)6:Tb3+phosphors

Tb3+ions activated Ba4La6O(SiO4)6 (BLSO:Tb3+) phosphors were synthesized by a citrate sol-gel method. The X-ray diffraction pattern confirmed their oxyapatite structure. The field-emission scanning electron microscope image established that the BLSO:Tb3+phosphor particles were closely-packed and acquired irregular shapes. The photoluminescence (PL) excitation spectra of BLSO:Tb3+phosphors showed intense f–d transitions along with low intense peaks corresponding to the f–f transitions of Tb3+ions in the lower energy region. The PL emission spectra displayed the characteristic emission bands of Tb3+ions, and the optimized concentrations were found to be at 1 and 6mol% for blue and green emission peaks, respectively. The cathodoluminescece (CL) spectra exhibited a similar behavior that was observed in the PL spectra except the intensity variations in the blue and green regions. The CL spectra of the BLSO:6mol% Tb3+phosphor unveiled accelerating voltage induced luminescent properties.

Synthesis and luminescent properties of red-emitting Eu3+-activated Ca0.5Sr0.5MoO4 phosphors

Eu3+-activated Ca0.5Sr0.5MoO4 phosphors were prepared by a high-temperature solid-state reaction method. The X-ray diffraction patterns revealed that the obtained samples had a pure tetragonal phase. Under 393 nm excitation, all the samples exhibited the characteristic emissions of Eu3+ ions and the photoluminescence (PL) emission intensities showed an upward trend with elevating the Eu3+ ion concentration, while the concentration quenching effect took place when the Eu3+ ion concentration was over 9 mol% and the critical distance was determined to be about 13.09 A. Furthermore, the cathodoluminescence (CL) spectra, which were measured under low-voltage electron-beam excitation, demonstrated that the Ca0.41Sr0.5MoO4:0.09Eu3+ phosphor had excellent CL performance. Also, the alkali metal ions, such as Li+, Na+, and K+, were used as the charge compensator to modify the PL emission intensity of the Ca0.41Sr0.5MoO4:0.09Eu3+ phosphor and the phosphor compensated by Na+ ions showed the strongest PL emission intensity.

GAGG:ce single crystalline films: New perspective scintillators for electron detection in SEM

Single crystal scintillators are frequently used for electron detection in scanning electron microscopy (SEM). We report gadolinium aluminum gallium garnet (GAGG:Ce) single crystalline films as a new perspective scintillators for the SEM. For the first time, the epitaxial garnet films were used in a practical application: the GAGG:Ce scintillator was incorporated into a SEM scintillation electron detector and it showed improved image quality. In order to prove the GAGG:Ce quality accurately, the scintillation properties were examined using electron beam excitation and compared with frequently used scintillators in the SEM. The results demonstrate excellent emission efficiency of the GAGG:Ce single crystalline films together with their very fast scintillation decay useful for demanding SEM applications.

Identification of F+ centers in hafnia and zirconia nanopowders

Luminescence properties of undoped hafnia and zirconia nanopowders prepared by solution combustion synthesis were investigated under photo- and electron-beam excitation in 10–400 K temperature range. Along with the main luminescence band revealed in investigated materials at low temperatures at 4.2–4.3 eV and ascribed to the emission of self-trapped excitons, there are luminescence bands due to defects and impurities introduced during sample preparation. At room temperature the latter emissions dominate in the luminescence spectra as the intrinsic self-trapped exciton emission is quenched. Analysis of decay kinetics of defect centers allowed identification of F+ centers emission at 2.8 eV with lifetimes ∼3–6 ns in hafnia and zirconia under intra-center excitation.

Measurement of synchrotron-radiation-excited Kossel patterns.

Kossel line patterns contain information on the crystalline structure, such as the magnitude and the phase of Bragg reflections. For technical reasons, most of these patterns are obtained using electron beam excitation, which leads to surface sensitivity that limits the spatial extent of the structural information. To obtain the atomic structure in bulk volumes, X-rays should be used as the excitation radiation. However, there are technical problems, such as the need for high resolution, low noise, large dynamic range, photon counting, two-dimensional pixel detectors and the small spot size of the exciting beam, which have prevented the widespread use of Kossel pattern analysis. Here, an experimental setup is described, which can be used for the measurement of Kossel patterns in a reasonable time and with high resolution to recover structural information.

The Application of the Fluorescent Nano Diamond for the Direct Electron Beam Excitation Assisted Fluorescent Microscope

The Application of the Fluorescent Nano Diamond for the Direct Electron Beam Excitation Assisted Fluorescent Microscope

Morphology-controlled hydrothermal synthesis and multifunctional luminescence properties of micro-crystals Gd6O5F8:Eu3+/Tb3+/Tm3+

This paper reports on a facile hydrothermal route that has been developed to synthesize a precursor Gd(OH)2.14F0.86 and a novel phosphor host Gd6O5F8. The morphology of the micro-sized Gd(OH)2.14F0.86/Gd6O5F8 can be easily tuned in a controlled manner by altering the fluorine sources, alkali solutions, reaction time and the pH values of the initial solution. Under ultraviolet (UV) light, vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light and low-voltage electron beam excitation, the Gd(OH)2.14F0.86/Gd6O5F8:Ln3+ (Eu, Tb and Tm) samples show the characteristic f–f transitions of the Ln3+ ions and give bright red, green and blue emissions, respectively. The results prove that the as-synthesized Gd6O5F8 are excellent host lattices for rare earth luminescence, which may find potential applications in solid-state light, field emission displays (FEDs).

Pechini-type sol–gel synthesis and multicolor-tunable emission properties of GdY(MoO4)3:RE3+ (RE = Eu, Dy, Sm, Tb) phosphors

GdY(MoO4)3:RE3+ (RE=Eu, Dy, Sm, Tb) phosphor were synthesized via a Pechini-type sol–gel process. X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), photoluminescence (PL) and cathodoluminescence (CL) spectra, and decay lifetimes etc were utilized to characterize the resulting samples. After annealed at 800°C for 4h in air, pure GdY(MoO4)3 phase can form. When the calcination temperature is further increased to 1100°C, the crystallinity and luminescence intensity reach the best in our experiments. Under UV light and low-voltage electron beam excitation, the GdY(MoO4)3:Eu3+, GdY(MoO4)3:Dy3+, GdY(MoO4)3:Sm3+ and GdY(MoO4)3:Tb3+ phosphors exhibit the characteristic emission of Eu3+ (5D0-7F2, red), Dy3+ (4F9/2–6H13/2, yellow), Sm3+ (4G5/2–6H7/2, orange) and Tb3+ (5D4–7F5, green) with a high color purity, respectively. The Eu3+ and Tb3+ co-doping phosphors are capable of showing color-tunable emissions in the visible region under single-wavelength excitation. The luminescence mechanism and concentration quenching effect were discussed in detail.

Reflection zone plate wavelength-dispersive spectrometer for ultra-light elements measurements.

We have developed an electron beam excitation ultra-soft X-ray add-on device for a scanning electron microscope with a reflective zone plate mulichannel spectrometer in order to analyse ultra-light elements such as Li and B. This spectrometer has high (λ/Δλ~100) resolving power in the energy range of 45 eV - 1120 eV. Metallic Li samples were examined and fluorescence spectra successfully measured. Energy resolution of 0.49 eV was measured in the ultra-low energy range using the Al L(2,3) line at 71 eV. High sensitivity of Boron detection was demonstrated on a B(4)C sample with layer thicknesses of 1-50 nm, detecting an amount of metallic Boron as small as ~0.57 fg.

Nanoscale Spatial Coherent Control over the Modal Excitation of a Coupled Plasmonic Resonator System

We demonstrate coherent control over the optical response of a coupled plasmonic resonator by high-energy electron beam excitation. We spatially control the position of an electron beam on a gold dolmen and record the cathodoluminescence and electron energy loss spectra. By selective coherent excitation of the dolmen elements in the near field, we are able to manipulate modal amplitudes of bonding and antibonding eigenmodes. We employ a combination of CL and EELS to gain detailed insight in the power dissipation of these modes at the nanoscale as CL selectively probes the radiative response and EELS probes the combined effect of Ohmic dissipation and radiation.

Cell culture on hydrophilicity-controlled silicon nitride surfaces.

Cell culture on silicon nitride membranes is required for atmospheric scanning electron microscopy, electron beam excitation assisted optical microscopy, and various biological sensors. Cell adhesion to silicon nitride membranes is typically weak, and cell proliferation is limited. We increased the adhesion force and proliferation of cultured HeLa cells by controlling the surface hydrophilicity of silicon nitride membranes. We covalently coupled carboxyl groups on silicon nitride membranes, and measured the contact angles of water droplets on the surfaces to evaluate the hydrophilicity. We cultured HeLa cells on the coated membranes and evaluated stretch of the cell. Cell migration and confluence were observed on the coated silicon nitride films. We also demonstrated preliminary observation result with direct electron beam excitation-assisted optical microscope.

X-Ray fluorescence analysis of Ge–As–Se glasses using X-Ray and electron-beam excitation

The quantitative content of germanium, arsenic, and selenium in As1–x Se x , Ge1–x Se x , and Ge1–x–y As y Se x (As y (Ge1–z Se z )1–y ) glassy alloys has been determined by X-ray fluorescence analysis with fluorescence excitation by bremsstrahlung X-rays and an electron beam. The use of these techniques has made it possible to determine the quantitative composition of the glasses (x, y, and z) with an accuracy of ±0.0002 in a surface layer 0.1 mm (under X-ray excitation) to 0.1 μm (under electron beam excitation) in thickness.

Nanoscale Photocurrent Microscopy for Thin Film Solar Cells Using Focused Electron Beam and Near-Field Optical Excitations

Nanoscale Photocurrent Microscopy for Thin Film Solar Cells Using Focused Electron Beam and Near-Field Optical Excitations