Nanoscale structuring of tungsten tip yields most coherent electron point-source

This report demonstrates the most spatially-coherent electron source ever reported. A coherence angle of 14.3 ± 0.5° was measured, indicating a virtual source size of 1.7 ± 0.6 Å using an extraction voltage of 89.5 V. The nanotips under study were crafted using a spatially-confined, field-assisted nitrogen etch which removes material from the periphery of the tip apex resulting in a sharp, tungsten–nitride stabilized, high-aspect ratio source. The coherence properties are deduced from holographic measurements in a low-energy electron point source microscope with a carbon nanotube bundle as sample. Using the virtual source size and emission current the brightness normalized to 100 kV is found to be 7.9 × 108 A sr−1 cm2.