Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2020) 135: 811
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-020-00837-3

Regular Article

Wave-particle duality of electrons with spin-momentum locking

Double-slit interference and single-slit diffraction effects of electrons on the surface of three-dimensional topological insulators

¹ Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), Manuel de Lardizbal 4, 20018, San Sebastián, Spain
² IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation of Science, 48011, Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain
³ Aix Marseille Univ, Universitá de Toulon, CNRS, CPT, Marseille, France
⁴ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Genova, Via Dodecaneso 33, 16146, Genoa, Italy
⁵ SPIN-CNR, Via Dodecaneso 33, 16146, Genoa, Italy

^a dario.bercioux@dipc.org

Received: 3 July 2020
Accepted: 5 October 2020
Published online: 12 October 2020

Abstract

We investigate the effects of spin-momentum locking on the interference and diffraction patterns due to a double- or single-slit in an electronic Gedankenexperiment. We show that the inclusion of the spin-degree-of-freedom, when coupled to the motion direction of the carrier—a typical situation that occurs in systems with spin–orbit interaction—leads to a modification of the interference and diffraction patterns that depend on the geometrical parameters of the system.