A carbon nanotube based electron source with 0.3eV energy spread and an unconventional time delay

A carbon nanotube based electron source with 0.3eV energy spread and an unconventional time delay | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article A carbon nanotube based electron source with 0.3eV energy spread and an unconventional time delay Chi Li, Ke Chen, Chao Yu, Xiaowei Wang, Shenghan Zhou, Li Wang, and 8 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5702482/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 02 Jul, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Materials → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Conventianal metal tip based laser-driven electron source is normally constrained by a trade-off between energy spread and pulse duration due to optical-field-induced free electron acceleration, making it challenging to overcome the current state of the art electron source with over 1 eV energy spread and hundreds of femoto second (fs) duration. Here, we report an unconventional delayed emission in a one-dimensional carbon nanotube (CNT) based electron source. By utilizing a special pump-probe approach, we apply 7 fs laser pulses to the CNT emitters and observe free electron emission tens of fs after the pulse. This delayed emission resulted in a substantial reduced energy spread to approximately 0.3 eV and an electron pulse duration of about 13 fs. Through time-dependent density functional theory calculations, we find that this is driven by the interplay of collective oscillations and electron-electron interactions. Our results may provide a promising technology for the cutting-edge ultrafast electron sources. Physical sciences/Materials science/Nanoscale materials/Carbon nanotubes and fullerenes Physical sciences/Nanoscience and technology/Nanoscale materials/Carbon nanotubes and fullerenes Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files 3SI1223.docx Supplementary Information for A carbon nanotube based electron source with 0.3eV energy spread and an unconventional time dela Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 02 Jul, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Materials → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5702482","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":397987240,"identity":"bbc7b44f-35a9-4510-8c06-af721f0e986b","order_by":0,"name":"Chi 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