Probing the Boundary between Classical and Quantum Mechanics by Analyzing the Energy Dependence of Single-Electron Scattering Events at the Nanoscale.
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| Title: | Probing the Boundary between Classical and Quantum Mechanics by Analyzing the Energy Dependence of Single-Electron Scattering Events at the Nanoscale. |
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| Authors: | Kisielowski, Christian1 (AUTHOR) cfkisielowski@sbcglobal.net, Specht, Petra2 (AUTHOR), Helveg, Stig3 (AUTHOR), Chen, Fu-Rong4 (AUTHOR), Freitag, Bert5 (AUTHOR), Jinschek, Joerg6 (AUTHOR), Van Dyck, Dirk7 (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Nanomaterials (2079-4991). Mar2023, Vol. 13 Issue 6, p971. 12p. |
| Subjects: | Wave packets, Classical mechanics, Quantum mechanics, Time-dependent Schrödinger equations, Theory of wave motion, Heisenberg uncertainty principle, Electron energy loss spectroscopy |
| Abstract: | The relation between the energy-dependent particle and wave descriptions of electron–matter interactions on the nanoscale was analyzed by measuring the delocalization of an evanescent field from energy-filtered amplitude images of sample/vacuum interfaces with a special aberration-corrected electron microscope. The spatial field extension coincided with the energy-dependent self-coherence length of propagating wave packets that obeyed the time-dependent Schrödinger equation, and underwent a Goos–Hänchen shift. The findings support the view that wave packets are created by self-interferences during coherent–inelastic Coulomb interactions with a decoherence phase close to Δφ = 0.5 rad. Due to a strictly reciprocal dependence on energy, the wave packets shrink below atomic dimensions for electron energy losses beyond 1000 eV, and thus appear particle-like. Consequently, our observations inevitably include pulse-like wave propagations that stimulate structural dynamics in nanomaterials at any electron energy loss, which can be exploited to unravel time-dependent structure–function relationships on the nanoscale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Engineering Source |
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| Abstract: | The relation between the energy-dependent particle and wave descriptions of electron–matter interactions on the nanoscale was analyzed by measuring the delocalization of an evanescent field from energy-filtered amplitude images of sample/vacuum interfaces with a special aberration-corrected electron microscope. The spatial field extension coincided with the energy-dependent self-coherence length of propagating wave packets that obeyed the time-dependent Schrödinger equation, and underwent a Goos–Hänchen shift. The findings support the view that wave packets are created by self-interferences during coherent–inelastic Coulomb interactions with a decoherence phase close to Δφ = 0.5 rad. Due to a strictly reciprocal dependence on energy, the wave packets shrink below atomic dimensions for electron energy losses beyond 1000 eV, and thus appear particle-like. Consequently, our observations inevitably include pulse-like wave propagations that stimulate structural dynamics in nanomaterials at any electron energy loss, which can be exploited to unravel time-dependent structure–function relationships on the nanoscale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 20794991 |
| DOI: | 10.3390/nano13060971 |
