Influence of the vortex-electron spatial distribution on atomic scattering

We explore the elastic scattering of nonrelativistic electrons in the form of Bessel-Gaussian (BG), standard Laguerre-Gaussian (sLG), and elegant Laguerre-Gaussian (eLG) packets on atomic targets in the generalized Born approximation. Scattering by hydrogenlike, iron, silver, and golden targets is considered. The incident electron carries a nonzero orbital angular momentum, while sLG and eLG packets have a definite radial quantum number $n$ as well. In the scattering of sLG and eLG wave packets by a macroscopic target, sensitivity of the average cross section to the orbital angular momentum is observed, which is absent for BG packets. We discuss the potential experimental realization of vortex-electron wave packets of these three types. The distinguishing features in the scattering results can be employed for imaging purposes and revelation of the packet properties in experiments.