Electronic wave packets in vacuum photodetectors and the possibility of observing them

The motion of an electronic wave packet in the interelectrode space of a vacuum photodetector is investigated. It is shown that the dimensions of such a packet are of the order of 1 micron and are comparable to the optical wavelength. On interacting with a powerful laser pulse the packet scatters a large number of photons and is deflected from its initial trajectory. Both effects can be used to determine the parameters of an electronic wave packet. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 63, No. 6, 408–411 (25 March 1996)