Non-Poissonian Ultrashort Nanoscale Electron Pulses

The statistical character of electron beams used in current technologies, as described by a stream of particles, is random in nature. Using coincidence measurements of femtosecond pulsed electron pairs, we report the observation of sub-Poissonian electron statistics that are nonrandom due to two-electron Coulomb interactions, and that exhibit an antibunching signal of 1 part in 4. This advancement is a fundamental step toward observing a strongly quantum degenerate electron beam needed for many applications, and in particular electron correlation spectroscopy.

Automated summary

By using coincidence measurements of femtosecond pulsed electron pairs, sub-Poissonian electron statistics have been observed, which are nonrandom due to two-electron Coulomb interactions and exhibit an antibunching signal of 1 part in 4. This advancement represents a fundamental step towards observing a strongly quantum degenerate electron beam necessary for various applications, particularly electron correlation spectroscopy.