arXiv subjects

Giovanni Bertoni

Publications and source records attributed to Giovanni Bertoni.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Quantum tomography of inelastic electron scattering \emph{via} orbital angular momentum states

The physical properties of a quantum system, whether pure or mixed, are described fully by its density matrix. Recovery of the density matrix through projective measurements -- referred to as quantum state tomography -- is a cornerstone of quantum optics and metrology. The implementation of this approach in transmission electron microscopy, in particular for the characterisation of an electron beam after inelastic scattering, has remained a longstanding challenge as a result of the complexity of scanning high-dimensional phase spaces, with the number of required measurements growing quadratically with space dimensionality. Here, we introduce a simplified approach by restricting tomography to the electron orbital angular momentum (OAM) subspace. By using an electron optical device known as an OAM sorter, we discretise the phase space into a finite set of measurable states, thus significantly reducing the experimental and computational burden. The resulting measurements suffice to probe essential features of inelastic scattering. We demonstrate the technique by studying the inelastic scattering of a structured electron probe exciting volume plasmons in a carbon film. The combined use of a structured beams and OAM-resolved quantum tomography reveals symmetry-breaking effects and offers insight into the coherence and evolution of the scattered quantum states. Analysis of the diagonalised density matrices further reveals the nature of the induced state transitions, demonstrating the power of the approach for quantum tomography of electron scattering.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Near-real-time diagnosis of electron optical phase aberrations in scanning transmission electron microscopy using an artificial neural network

The key to optimizing spatial resolution in a state-of-the-art scanning transmission electron microscope is the ability to precisely measure and correct for electron optical aberrations of the probe-forming lenses. Several diagnostic methods for aberration measurement and correction with maximum precision and accuracy have been proposed, albeit often at the cost of relatively long acquisition times. Here, we illustrate how artificial intelligence can be used to provide near-real-time diagnosis of aberrations from individual Ronchigrams. The demonstrated speed of aberration measurement is important as microscope conditions can change rapidly, as well as for the operation of MEMS-based hardware correction elements that have less intrinsic stability than conventional electromagnetic lenses.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2020

Bandgap in orthorhombic thin lead halide perovskite (CsPbBr3) nanosheets measured from STEM-EELS

Inorganic lead halide perovskites are promising candidates for optoelectronic applications, due to their bandgap tunability, high photoluminescence quantum yield, and narrow emission line widths. In particular, they offer the possibility to vary the bandgap as a function of the halide composition and dimension/shape of the crystals at the nanoscale. Here we present an aberration-corrected scanning transmission microscopy (STEM) study of extended nanosheets of CsPbBr3 directly demonstrating their orthorhombic crystal structure and their lateral termination with Cs-Br planes. The bandgaps from individual nanosheets are measured by monochromated electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). We find an increase of the bandgap starting at thicknesses below 10 nm, confirming the less dramatic effect of 1D confinement in nanosheets compared to the 3D confinement observed in quantum dots, as predicted by density functional theory calculations and optical spectroscopy data from ensemble measurements.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

Imaging localized plasmon resonances in vacancy doped Cu3-xP semiconductor nanocrystals with STEM-EELS

Copper binary compounds are often intrinsic p-type semiconductors due to the presence of Cu(I) vacancies, with corresponding hole carriers in the valence band. If the free carrier concentration is high enough, localized plasmon resonances can be sustained in nanocrystals, with frequencies in the infra-red (<1 eV), with respect to the typical resonances seen in the visible range in the case of metals (Ag, Au, ...). The localization of the resonances can be demonstrated with scanning transmission electron energy loss spectroscopy (STEM-EELS) by combining high spatial and high energy resolutions. Here we demonstrate that Cu(I) vacancies can be directly measured from the STEM images in Cu(3-x)P hexagonal nanocrystals. Two localized resonances can be seen from STEM-EELS, which are in agreement with the resonances calculated from the vacancy concentration obtained from the STEM.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

Influence of the Ion Coordination Number on Cation Exchange Reactions with Copper Telluride Nanocrystals

Cu2-xTe nanocubes were used as starting seeds to access metal telluride nanocrystals by cation exchanges at room temperature. The coordination number of the entering cations was found to play an important role in dictating the reaction pathways. The exchanges with tetrahedrally coordinated cations (i.e. with coordination number 4), such as Cd2+ or Hg2+, yielded monocrystalline CdTe or HgTe nanocrystals with Cu2-xTe/CdTe or Cu2-xTe/HgTe Janus-like heterostructures as intermediates. The formation of Janus-like architectures was attributed to the high diffusion rate of the relatively small tetrahedrally coordinated cations, which could rapidly diffuse in the Cu2-xTe NCs and nucleate the CdTe (or HgTe) phase in a preferred region of the host structure. Also, with both Cd2+ and Hg2+ ions the exchange led to wurtzite CdTe and HgTe phases rather than the more stable zinc-blende ones, indicating that the anion framework of the starting Cu2- xTe particles could be more easily deformed to match the anion framework of the metastable wurtzite structures. As hexagonal HgTe had never been reported to date, this represents another case of metastable new phases that can only be accessed by cation exchange. On the other hand, the exchanges involving octahedrally coordinated ions (i.e. with coordination number 6), such as Pb2+ or Sn2+, yielded rock-salt polycrystalline PbTe or SnTe nanocrystals with Cu2-xTe@PbTe or Cu2-xTe@SnTe core@shell architectures at the early stages of the exchange process. In this case, the octahedrally coordinated ions are probably too large to diffuse easily through the Cu2-xTe structure: their limited diffusion rate restricts their initial reaction to the surface of the nanocrystals, where cation exchange is initiated unselectively, leading to core@shell architectures.

physics.chem-ph↗