State-Agnostic Approach to Certifying Electron-Photon Entanglement in Electron Microscopy

TL;DR

This paper introduces a robust, state-agnostic protocol for certifying electron-photon entanglement in transmission electron microscopes, enabling quantum-enhanced imaging with potential radiation damage reduction.

Contribution

The authors develop a novel entanglement certification method using mutually unbiased bases, applicable to TEMs, combining quantum information techniques with electron microscopy.

Findings

Simulation results support feasibility in TEM systems.

Preliminary experimental data validate the approach.

Method provides quantitative entanglement bounds.

Abstract

Transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) enable atomic-scale imaging and characterisation, driving advances across fields from materials science to biology. Quantum correlations, specifically entanglement, may provide a basis for novel hybrid sensing techniques to make TEMs compatible with sensitive samples prone to radiation damage. We present a protocol to certify entanglement between electrons and photons naturally arising from certain coherent cathodoluminescence (CL) processes. Using mutually unbiased bases in position and momentum, our method allows robust, state-agnostic entanglement verification and provides a lower bound on the entanglement of formation, enabling quantitative comparisons across platforms. Simulations under experiment-inspired conditions and preliminary experimental data highlight the feasibility of implementing this approach in modern TEM systems with optical specimen access. Our work integrates photonic quantum information techniques with electron microscopy. It establishes a foundation for entanglement-based imaging at the atomic scale, offering a potential pathway to reduce radiation exposure.