Specialists from the Dzhelepov Laboratory of Nuclear Problems and ITMO University developed an effective theoretical method for determining the key parameters of twisted electron and ion beams. The proposed approach opens up new opportunities of diagnosing high-energy particles in accelerator experiments as well as studying the magnetic properties of materials.
Twisted beams, in which particles move in a spiral, are of significant interest for fundamental physics, materials science, and quantum technologies. However, existing diagnostic methods are effective primarily for low-energy particles and not suitable for relativistic beams used in modern accelerator complexes.
The scientific team proposed using diffraction by a triangular aperture. For example, if a twisted beam of electrons is passed through a microscopic triangular aperture, a characteristic diffraction pattern emerges in the far region of the detector. Analysis of the resulting bright-spot pattern allows precisely determining both the magnitude and the direction of orbital angular momentum of the particles in the beam.
Comprehensive modelling results confirmed the viability of this method for energies from 100 keV to 5 MeV. In particular, it can be used at the LINAC-200 Linear Electron Accelerator at DLNP at JINR. Currently, specialists from the Institute and ITMO are preparing a joint experiment to test the new technique. In the future, the approach could become a convenient tool for online monitoring twisted beams at accelerators as well as for transmission electron and ion microscopy.
In the team, JINR was represented by DLNP senior laboratory assistant Nikita Borodin from the Reactor Neutrino Sector and DLNP Deputy Director Dmitry Naumov. The results were published in the article entitled “Diffraction by circular and triangular apertures as a diagnostic tool of twisted matter waves” in the Physical Review A journal.
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