Origin of persistent coherent phase contrast after inelastic scattering

Determine the origin of the persistence of coherent phase contrast in energy-filtered high-resolution transmission electron microscopy after inelastic electron–matter interactions.

Background

Energy-filtered high-resolution transmission electron microscopy experiments have shown that coherent lattice contrast persists far into the electron energy-loss regime, disappearing only at energy losses of several hundred electron volts in thin samples. The paper identifies the physical origin of this persistence as unresolved and subsequently investigates whether electron self-coherence, characterized by a self-coherence length and time, accounts for the observed contrast behavior.