Descrizione del progetto
Le proprietà delle onde degli elettroni a modulazione dinamica inaugurano una nuova era della microscopia elettronica
Il microscopio elettronico, inventato nel 1931, ci ha permesso di superare i limiti di risoluzione imposti dalle proprietà della luce visibile, sfruttando la natura ondulatoria degli elettroni, una scoperta insignita del Premio Nobel per la fisica alcuni anni prima. Ad oggi, modifiche della funzione d’onda elettronica hanno permesso di migliorare significativamente le prestazioni della microscopia elettronica, ampliandone la modalità di utilizzo, la risoluzione spaziale e temporale e la sensibilità. Il progetto SMART-electron, finanziato dall’UE, sta inaugurando una nuova era di indagine sui materiali utilizzando campi elettromagnetici ultraveloci per modulare in modo intelligente le funzioni d’onda a elettroni liberi apportando un cambiamento radicale delle potenzialità.
Obiettivo
Addressing the grand-challenges that the world is facing nowadays in connection with ‘energy’, ‘information’ and ‘health’ requires the development of unconventional methods for unprecedented visualization of matter. SMART-electron aims at developing an innovative technological platform for designing, realizing and operating all-optical rapidly-programmable phase masks for electrons. By introducing a new paradigm where properly synthesized ultrafast electromagnetic fields will be used for engineering the phase space of a free-electron wave function, we will be able to achieve unprecedented space/time/energy/momentum shaping of electron matter waves, surpassing conventional passive monolithic schemes and revolutionizing the way materials are investigated in electron microscopy. Such unique high-speed, flexible and precise full-phase multidimensional control, will enable novel advanced imaging approaches in electron microscopy with enhanced features, such as higher image-resolution, lower electron dose, faster acquisition rate, higher signal-to-noise ratio, and three-dimensional image reconstruction, together with higher temporal resolution and high energy-momentum sensitivity. In SMART-electron, we will make such potential a reality by implementing for the first time three beyond-the-state-of-the-art imaging techniques enabled by our photonic-based electron modulators, namely: (1) Ramsey-type Holography, (2) Electron Single-Pixel Imaging, and (3) Quantum Cathodoluminescence. Such new approaches will lead to unprecedented visualization of many-body states in quantum materials, real-time electrochemical reactions, and spatio-temporal localization of biomimetic nanoparticles in cells for drug delivery. By surpassing the current paradigms in terms of electron manipulation, the project has the potential to drive electron microscopy into a new and exciting age where scientists will benefit from new tools with unprecedented performances that were unimaginable until now.
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
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H2020-FETOPEN-2018-2019-2020-01
Meccanismo di finanziamento
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinatore
20126 MILANO
Italia