Stimulated excitation electron microscopy and spectroscopy.

Recent advances in instrumentation for electron optics and spectroscopy have prompted exploration of ultra-low excitations such as phonons, bond vibrations and Johnson noise. These can be excited not just with fast electrons but also thermally or by other external sources of radiation. The near-field theory of electron energy loss and gain provides a convenient platform for analysing these processes. Possibilities for selected phonon mapping and imaging are discussed. Effects should certainly be observable in atomic resolution structure imaging but diffraction contrast imaging could perhaps be more informative. Additional exciting prospects to be explored include the transition from phonon excitation to single atom recoil and the boosting of energy loss and gain signals with tuned laser illumination.