"Electron wave shaping in space and time using structured light"

Stimulated interaction between photons and free electrons allow to coherently modulate the phase of electron wave function and to create photon sidebands in electron energy/momentum spectra. Such manipulation has been utilized for high-resolution imaging and spectroscopy with electron beams. It can be generalized to the case of optical fields structured both in space and time domains.

In this talk I will summarize our recent theoretical and experimental results on free electron wave function shaping using tailored light waves allowing to generate chiral electron beams, to shape the electron pulses, to monochromatize pulsed electron beams or to compensate spherical and chromatic aberrations of electron lens. I will also discuss development and demonstration of a new ultrafast 4D-STEM (scanning transmission electron microscopy) technique allowing to image the transverse component of Lorentz force acting on the electrons during their interaction with optical near-fields of nanostructures or with ponderomotive potential of optical waves in free space.

References

[1] M. C. Chirita Mihaila, N. Laštovičková Streshkova, M. Kozák, Light-Based Chromatic Aberration Correction of Ultrafast Electron Microscopes, Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 203802 (2025).

[2] M. C. Chirita Mihaila, P. Koutenský, K. Moriová, M. Kozák, Light-based electron aberration corrector, arXiv:2504.18661 (2025).

[3] M. C. Chirita Mihaila, M. Kozák, Design for light-based spherical aberration correction of ultrafast electron microscopes, Opt. Express 33, 758-775 (2025).

[4] N. Laštovičková Streshkova, P. Koutenský, M. Kozák, Electron vortex beams for chirality probing at the nanoscale, Phys. Rev. Applied 22, 054017 (2024).

[5] N. Laštovičková Streshkova, P. Koutenský, T. Novotný, M. Kozák, Monochromatization of electron beams with spatially and temporally modulated optical fields, Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 213801 (2024).