dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaDecoherence of electron beams by electromagnetic field fluctuations
| Authors | Yehoshua Levinson |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0312184 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0312184 |
| DOI | 10.1088/0305-4470/37/8/012 |
Abstract
Electromagnetic field fluctuations are responsible for the destruction of electron coherence (dephasing) in solids and in vacuum electron beam interference. The vacuum fluctuations are modified by conductors and dielectrics, as in the Casimir effect, and hence, bodies in the vicinity of the beams can influence the beam coherence. We calculate the quenching of interference of two beams moving in vacuum parallel to a thick plate with permittivity $\epsilon(\omega)=\epsilon_{0}+i 4\pi\sigma/\omega$. In case of an ideal conductor or dielectric $(|\epsilon|=\infty)$ the dephasing is suppressed when the beams are close to the surface of the plate, because the random tangential electric field $E_{t}$, responsible for dephasing, is zero at the surface. The situation is changed dramatically when $\epsilon_{0}$ or $\sigma$ are finite. In this case there exists a layer near the surface, where the fluctuations of $E_{t}$ are strong due to evanescent near fields. The thickness of this near - field layer is of the order of the wavelength in the dielectric or the skin depth in the conductor, corresponding to a frequency which is the inverse electron time of flight from the emitter to the detector. When the beams are within this layer their dephasing is enhanced and for slow enough electrons can be even stronger than far from the surface.
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"abstract": "Electromagnetic field fluctuations are responsible for the destruction of\nelectron coherence (dephasing) in solids and in vacuum electron beam\ninterference. The vacuum fluctuations are modified by conductors and\ndielectrics, as in the Casimir effect, and hence, bodies in the vicinity of the\nbeams can influence the beam coherence. We calculate the quenching of\ninterference of two beams moving in vacuum parallel to a thick plate with\npermittivity $\\epsilon(\\omega)=\\epsilon_{0}+i 4\\pi\\sigma/\\omega$. In case of an\nideal conductor or dielectric $(|\\epsilon|=\\infty)$ the dephasing is suppressed\nwhen the beams are close to the surface of the plate, because the random\ntangential electric field $E_{t}$, responsible for dephasing, is zero at the\nsurface. The situation is changed dramatically when\n $\\epsilon_{0}$ or $\\sigma$ are finite. In this case there exists a layer near\nthe surface, where the fluctuations of $E_{t}$ are strong due to evanescent\nnear fields. The thickness of this near - field layer is of the order of the\nwavelength in the dielectric or the skin depth in the conductor, corresponding\nto a frequency which is the inverse electron time of flight from the emitter to\nthe detector. When the beams are within this layer their dephasing is enhanced\nand for slow enough electrons can be even stronger than far from the surface.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0312184",
"authors": [
"Yehoshua Levinson"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
],
"doi": "10.1088/0305-4470/37/8/012",
"title": "Decoherence of electron beams by electromagnetic field fluctuations",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0312184"
},
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