A Low-Power Optical Electron Switch

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a low-power optical electron switch using silicon nitride that deflects electron beams with laser illumination, offering a new method for controlling electron beams in lithography and microscopy.

Contribution

It introduces a novel optical electron switch that uses low-power laser illumination to control electron beam deflection, with fast switching capabilities.

Findings

Achieved a deflection angle of up to 1.2 mrad.

Demonstrated a switch rise and fall time of 6 microseconds.

Showed potential applications in electron lithography and microscopy.

Abstract

An electron beam is deflected when it passes over a silicon nitride surface, if the surface is illuminated by a low-power continuous-wave diode laser. A deflection angle of up-to $1.2 \,\textrm{mrad}$ is achieved for an electron beam of $29 \,\mu\textrm{rad}$ divergence. A mechanical beam-stop is used to demonstrate that the effect can act as an optical electron switch with a rise and fall time of $6 \,\mu\textrm{s}$. Such a switch provides an alternative means to control electron beams, which may be useful in electron lithography and microscopy.