Comparison of theory, simulation, and experiment for dynamical extinction of relativistic electron beams diffracted through a SI crystal membrane

Diffraction in the transmission geometry through a single-crystal silicon slab is exploited to control the intensity of a relativistic electron beam. The choice of crystal thickness and incidence angle can extinguish or maximize the transmitted beam intensity via coherent multiple Bragg scattering; thus, the crystal acts as a dynamical beam stop through the Pendelösung effect, a well-known phenomenon in X-ray and electron diffraction. In an initial experiment, we have measured the ability of this method to transmit or extinguish the primary beam and diffract into a single Bragg peak. Using lithographic etching of patterns in the crystal we intend to use this method to nanopattern an electron beam for production of coherent x-rays. We compare the experimental results with simulations using the multislice method to model the diffraction pattern from a perfect silicon crystal of uniform thickness, considering multiple scattering, crystallographic orientation, temperature effects, and partial coherence from the momentum spread of the beam. The simulations are compared to data collected at the ASTA UED facility at SLAC for a 340 nm thick Si(100) wafer with a beam energy of 2.35 MeV.