Polarized pulsed front-end beam source for electron microscope

1. An electron source for generating polarized electrons for an electron microscope comprising:

a photoemissive cathode; said photoemissive cathode made of gallium arsenide (GaAs);

a low-power drive laser providing a pulsed laser beam to said photoemissive cathode; said low-power drive laser providing a resized laser snot with proportionally scaled laser power and said resized laser snot changing beam current;

said photoemissive cathode generating pulsed, polarized electrons responsive to said pulsed laser beam; and

electrostatic focusing elements for focusing said pulsed, polarized electrons to approximately 1/100 of an initial spot size from said photoemissive cathode to an image spot, said image spot providing the electron source for a microscope column.

2. An electron source for generating polarized electrons as recited in claim 1 wherein said photoemissive cathode has a generally planar emission surface.

3. An electron source for generating polarized electrons as recited in claim 1 wherein said photoemissive cathode made of gallium arsenide (GaAs) has a generally planar emission surface providing pulsed, polarized electrons having a defined spin orientation.

4. An electron source for generating polarized electrons as recited in claim 1 wherein said photoemissive cathode made of gallium arsenide (GaAs) includes predefined cesiation of a generally planar emission surface of said photoemissive cathode, and said applied pulsed laser beam producing electrons emerging from the surface with a defined polarization or spin orientation.

5. An electron source for generating polarized electrons as recited in claim 1 includes a cathode holder supporting said photoemissive cathode.

6. An electron source for generating polarized electrons as recited in claim 5 includes a grounded shell containing said photoemissive cathode; a set of insulators coupled between said grounded shell and said cathode holder supporting and positioning said photoemissive cathode holder.

7. An electron source for generating polarized electrons as recited in claim 6 includes a high voltage power supply providing a high voltage potential to said photoemissive cathode.

8. An electron source for generating polarized electrons as recited in claim 7 includes a high voltage feed-through extending through said grounded shell coupling the high voltage potential to said photoemissive cathode.

9. An electron source for generating polarized electrons as recited in claim 6 includes a focusing anode extending from said grounded shell and spaced from said photoemissive cathode; a variable gap length selectively defined between said photoemissive cathode and said focusing anode allowing broad focusing tuning.

10. An electron source for generating polarized electrons as recited in claim 6 wherein said low-power drive laser is provided external to said grounded shell; said low-power drive laser being gated at a selected rate for gating a cathode emission current.

11. An electron source for generating polarized electrons as recited in claim 6 includes said low-power drive laser being positioned relative to said photoemissive cathode, and a laser port defined within said grounded shell providing a laser light path from said low-power drive laser to said photoemissive cathode.

12. A method for generating polarized electrons for an electron microscope comprising the steps of:

providing an external electron source using a photoemissive cathode and a low-power drive laser for providing a pulsed laser beam to said photoemissive cathode; said photoemissive cathode made of gallium arsenide (GaAs);

generating pulsed, polarized electrons from said photoemissive cathode responsive to applying said pulsed laser beam; providing a resized laser spot with proportionally scaled laser rower applied to said low-power drive laser and said resized laser spot changing beam current and

focusing said pulsed, polarized electrons to approximately 1/100 of an initial spot size from said photoemissive cathode to an image spot, said image spot providing the electron source for a microscope column.

13. A method for generating polarized electrons for an electron microscope as recited in claim 12 wherein providing said external electron source using said photoemissive cathode and said low-power drive laser includes providing said photoemissive cathode having a generally planar emission surface.

14. A method for generating polarized electrons for an electron microscope as recited in claim 12 wherein providing said external electron source using said photoemissive cathode and said low-power drive laser includes providing said photoemissive cathode made of gallium arsenide (GaAs) having a generally planar emission surface providing pulsed, polarized electrons having a defined spin orientation.

15. A method for generating polarized electrons for an electron microscope as recited in claim 12 wherein providing said external electron source using said photoemissive cathode and said low-power drive laser includes providing a cathode holder supporting said photoemissive cathode; and gating said low-power drive laser at a selected rate for gating a cathode emission current.

16. A method for generating polarized electrons for an electron microscope as recited in claim 15 includes providing a rounded shell containing said photoemissive cathode; a set of insulators coupled between said grounded shell and said cathode holder supporting and positioning said photoemissive cathode holder.

17. A method for generating polarized electrons for an electron microscope as recited in claim 16 includes providing a high voltage power supply providing a high voltage potential to said photoemissive cathode.

18. A method for generating polarized electrons for an electron microscope as recited in claim 16 includes providing a focusing anode extending from said grounded shell and spaced from said photoemissive cathode; a variable gap length selectively defined between said photoemissive cathode and said focusing anode allowing broad focusing tuning.

19. A method for generating polarized electrons for an electron microscope as recited in claim 12 wherein providing said external electron source using said photoemissive cathode and said low-power drive laser includes providing said photoemissive cathode with predefined cesiation of a generally planar emission surface of said photoemissive cathode, and said applied pulsed laser beam producing electrons emerging from the surface with a defined polarization or spin orientation.