Electron modulation and ultrafast near-field imaging with vectorial laser fields
Abstract
Controlled interaction of laser light with electron beams is fundamental for ultrafast electron microscopy and electron-based quantum optics, yet their direct coupling is forbidden in free space. Here we use longitudinally polarized light at a thin membrane and show that the emerging focal fields can modulate the electron beam in a direct, coherent and linear way, without the need for nanostructured materials or slanted interaction geometries. Also, we use vectorial polarizations to excite and probe three-dimensional nanophotonic near-fields in metallic mesocrystals by coherent electron energy gain and loss. We find that longitudinal electric fields excite axial near-fields in a direct way while longitudinal magnetic fields excite oscillating ring currents via azimuthal electric fields. These possibilities enable tilt-free, collinear generation of attosecond electron pulses or free-electron qubits and provide novel imaging modes in ultrafast electron microscopy and metamaterial tomography.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2605.22152,
title = {Electron modulation and ultrafast near-field imaging with vectorial laser fields},
author = {J. Kuttruff and L. Möhrle and L. Ciorciaro and L. Schmidt-Mende and P. Baum},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.22152},
year = {2026}
}