Nanosecond Electron Holography by Interference Gating

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel interference gating method for time-resolved electron holography, achieving nanosecond-scale temporal resolution and enabling the study of fast dynamic processes with high spatial detail.

Contribution

A new arrangement using a biprism as a fast electric phase shifter for interference gating in electron holography is demonstrated, extending temporal resolution into the nanosecond range.

Findings

Achieved 100 nanoseconds time resolution with current setup.

Successfully performed high-frequency electric phase modulation in the gigahertz range.

Enabled measurement of transient responses in electronic systems.

Abstract

The interference gating is a novel method for robust time-resolved electron holographic measurements by directly switching the interference. Here, a new arrangement is presented in which a biprism in the condenser aperture as a fast electric phase shifter is used to control the interference pattern. High-frequency stimulation of the electric phase shifter in the gigahertz range are performed and observed via electron holography, proving the feasibility of interference gating in the upper picosecond range. Despite the bandwidth limitation of 180~MHz of the current signal generator, a time resolution of 100 nanoseconds is achieved through forward correction of the control signal. With this time resolution, it is already possible to measure the transient response of the biasing holder system. Our method paves the way towards a closer look on fast dynamic processes with high temporal and spatial resolution.