A. J. McCulloch

High-coherence picosecond electron bunches from cold atoms

Ultrafast electron diffraction enables the study of molecular structural dynamics with atomic resolution at subpicosecond timescales, with applications in solid-state physics and rational drug design. Progress with ultrafast electron diffraction has been constrained by the limited transverse coherence of high-current electron sources. Photoionization of laser-cooled atoms can produce electrons of intrinsically high coherence, but has been too slow for ultrafast electron diffraction. Ionization with femtosecond lasers should in principle reduce the electron pulse duration, but the high bandwidth inherent to short laser pulses is expected to destroy the transverse coherence. Here we demonstrate that a two-colour process with femtosecond excitation followed by nanosecond photoionization can produce picosecond electron bunches with high transverse coherence. Ultimately, the unique combination of ultrafast ionization, high coherence and three-dimensional bunch shaping capabilities of cold atom electron sources have the potential for realising the brightness and coherence requirements for single-shot electron diffraction from crystalline biological samples.

Spatial coherence of electron bunches extracted from an arbitrarily shaped cold atom electron source

We describe the spatial coherence properties of a cold atom electron source in the framework of a quasihomogeneous wavefield. The model is used as the basis for direct measurements of the transverse spatial coherence length of electron bunches extracted from a cold atom electron source. The coherence length is determined from the measured visibility of a propagated electron distribution with a sinusoidal profile of variable spatial frequency. The electron distribution was controlled via the intensity profile of an atomic excitation laser beam patterned with a spatial light modulator. We measure a lower limit to the coherence length at the source of lc = 7.8 ± 0.9 nm.

Detailed observation of space–charge dynamics using ultracold ion bunches

Control of Coulomb expansion in charged particle beams is of critical importance for applications including electron and ion microscopy, injectors for particle accelerators and in ultrafast electron diffraction, where space-charge effects constrain the temporal and spatial imaging resolution. The development of techniques to reverse space-charge-driven expansion, or to observe shock waves and other striking phenomena, have been limited by the masking effect of thermal diffusion. Here we show that ultracold ion bunches extracted from laser-cooled atoms can be used to observe the effects of self-interactions with unprecedented detail. We generate arrays of small closely spaced ion bunches that interact to form complex and surprising patterns. We also show that nanosecond cold ion bunches provide data for analogous ultrafast electron systems, where the dynamics occur on timescales too short for detailed observation. In a surprising twist, slow atoms may underpin progress in high-energy and ultrafast physics.

Single-shot electron diffraction using a cold atom electron source

Cold atom electron sources are a promising alternative to traditional photocathode sources for use in ultrafast electron diffraction due to greatly reduced electron temperature at creation, and the potential for a corresponding increase in brightness. Here we demonstrate single-shot, nanosecond electron diffraction from monocrystalline gold using cold electron bunches generated in a cold atom electron source. The diffraction patterns have sufficient signal to allow registration of multiple single-shot images, generating an averaged image with significantly higher signal-to-noise ratio than obtained with unregistered averaging. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) was also demonstrated, showing that cold atom electron sources may be useful in resolving nanosecond dynamics of nanometre scale near-surface structures.

High-coherence electron and ion bunches from laser-cooled atoms.

Charged particle sources based on photoionisation of laser cooled atoms can provide unique properties, in particular high spatial coherence and the ability to create complex three-dimensional spatial density distributions, allowing detailed measurement of the internal charged particle interactions. Cold electrons extracted from laser cooled atoms promise the spatial coherence and high current required for picosecond molecular scale imaging. Similarly, sources of cold ions provide the opportunity of ion microscopy and ion beam milling with unprecedented resolution. We use arbitrary and real-time control of the electron and ion bunch shapes to demonstrate and measure the high spatial coherence of the cold atom electron and ion source.

Non-iterative imaging of inhomogeneous cold atom clouds using phase retrieval from a single diffraction measurement.

We demonstrate a new imaging technique for cold atom clouds based on phase retrieval from a single diffraction measurement. Most single-shot diffractive imaging methods for cold atoms assume a monomorphic object to extract the column density. The method described here allows quantitative imaging of an inhomogeneous cloud, enabling recovery of either the atomic density or the refractive index, provided the other is known. Using ideas borrowed from density functional theory, we calculate the approximate paraxial diffracted intensity derivative from the measured diffracted intensity distribution and use it to solve the Transport of Intensity Equation (TIE) for the phase of the wave at the detector plane. Back-propagation to the object plane yields the object exit surface wave and then provides a quantitative measurement of either the atomic column density or refractive index. Images of homogeneous clouds showed good quantitative agreement with conventional techniques. An inhomogeneous cloud was created using a cascade electromagnetically induced transparency scheme and images of both phase and amplitude parts of refractive index across the cloud were separately retrieved, showing good agreement with theoretical results.

Stimulated Raman adiabatic passage for improved performance of a cold-atom electron and ion source

We implement high-efficiency coherent excitation to a Rydberg state using stimulated Raman adiabatic passage in a cold atom electron and ion source. We achieve an efficiency of 60% averaged over the laser excitation volume with a peak efficiency of 82%, a 1.6 times improvement relative to incoherent pulsed-laser excitation. Using pulsed electric field ionization of the Rydberg atoms we create electron bunches with durations of 250 ps. High-efficiency excitation will increase source brightness, crucial for ultrafast electron diffraction experiments, and coherent excitation to high-lying Rydberg states could allow for the reduction of internal bunch heating and the creation of a high-speed single ion source.

Cold electron sources using laser-cooled atoms

Since the first observation of electron diffraction in 1927, electrons have been used to probe the structure of matter. High-brightness sources of thermal electrons have recently emerged that are capable of simultaneously providing high spatial resolving power along with ultrafast temporal resolution, however they are yet to demonstrate the holy grail of singleshot diffraction of non-crystalline objects. The development of the cold atom electron source, based around the ionisation of laser cooled atoms, has the potential to contribute to this goal. Electron generation from laser cooled atoms is in its infancy, but in just ten years has moved from a proposal to a source capable of performing single-shot diffraction imaging of crystalline structures. The high brightness, high transverse coherence length, and small energy spread of cold electron sources are also potentially advantageous for applications ranging from seeding of x-ray free-electron lasers and synchrotrons to coherent diffractive imaging and microscopy. In this review we discuss the context which motivates the development of these sources, the operating principles of the source, and recent experimental results. The achievements demonstrated thus far combined with theoretical proposals to alleviate current bottlenecks in development promise a bright future for these sources.

Extraction dynamics of electrons from magneto-optically trapped atoms

Pulsed photoionization of laser-cooled atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) has the potential to create cold electron beams of few meV bandwidths and few ps pulse lengths. Such a source would be highly attractive for the study of fast low-energy processes like coherent phonon excitation. To study the suitability of MOT-based sources for the production of simultaneously cold and fast electrons, we study the photoionization dynamics of trapped Cs atoms. A momentum-microscope-like setup with a delay-line detector allows for the simultaneous measurement of spatial and temporal electron distributions. The measured patterns are complex, due to the Lorentz force inducing spiral trajectories. Ray-tracing simulations reproduce the main features. We find that the production of electron bunches with bandwidths of a few meV is straightforward; however, pulses in the ps-range are more demanding and require beam blanking or partial blocking.

Bunch Shaping for Improved Brightness with a Cold Atom Electron and Ion Source

We create ultracold ion bunches via precisely shaped photoionisation of laser cooled atoms that exhibit linear Coulomb self-field expansion, smaller emittance growth and hence improved brightness under transverse focusing in comparison to standard Gaussian bunches.