Fundamental mechanism limiting electron self-coherence

Identify the fundamental mechanism that limits electron self-coherence in single-electron scattering and determines the persistence of coherent lattice contrast as a function of energy loss.

Background

The paper relates the persistence of atomic-resolution contrast in energy-filtered HRTEM to the self-coherence length and self-coherence time of electrons after inelastic scattering. Although the measurements suggest that the ability of the scattered electron wave function to maintain self-interference, rather than energy loss alone, governs coherent lattice transfer, the underlying physical limitation on electron self-coherence is left unidentified.