Carbon nanotubes are coherent electron sources

The observation of electron interference effects provides direct evidence of the coherence of the electrons emitted from a carbon nanotube. To demonstrate this, the low-energy electron point source microscope has been used to mount an individual carbon nanotube onto a tungsten tip. In subsequent experiments, the electrons emitted from the nanotube were used to generate holograms. Comparison with a standard tungsten atomic point source emitter establishes a high degree of coherence for a nanotube emitter. © 1997 American Institute of Physics.