Electron chirped Pearcey–Gaussian vortex beam

Abstract

The rapid development of structured electron beams has highlighted their potential value in frontier applications of electron optics. Motivated by this perspective, we focus on the properties of vortex electron beams. In this paper, we introduce a new electron chirped Pearcey–Gaussian vortex beam (ECPGVB) and numerically analyze its propagation properties with different topological charges in both free space and a constant magnetic field. The ECPGVB exhibits pronounced auto-focusing and self-healing properties in both media. To further explore its self-healing behavior, we analyze the influence of Gaussian absorption obstacles with different beam widths. It is found that ECPGVB embedded with vortices behaves with a weaker self-healing property and is more strongly affected by the greater beam width of the obstacle; nevertheless, the self-healing capability is still preserved. In a constant magnetic field, the focal length and the peak probability density can be flexibly adjusted by choosing the second-order chirp factor and the magnetic flux density. Moreover, the distribution factor and the topological charges enable control over the morphology of the probability-density pattern during propagation. The combination of these factors enables a high degree of tunability, thereby enhancing the potential value of the ECPGVB in electron optics.