Beam shaping and probe characterization in the scanning electron microscope.

Here we demonstrate the use of nanofabricated grating holograms to diffract and shape electrons in a scanning electron microscope. The diffraction grating is placed in an aperture in the column. The entire diffraction pattern can be passed through the objective lens and projected onto the specimen, or an intermediate aperture can be used to select particular diffracted beams. We discuss several techniques for characterizing the diffraction pattern. The grating designs can incorporate features that can influence the phase and intensity of the diffracted SEM probe. We demonstrate this by producing electron vortex beams. • We demonstrate electron beam shaping in a conventional scanning electron microscope. • We developed a method to characterize the shape of the structured electron beam. • As an example, we produce and characterize electron vortex beams. • This opens the door to develop new techniques in a scanning electron microscope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]