Spatiotemporal Electron-Beam Focusing through Parallel Interactions with Shaped Optical Fields

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a method to achieve simultaneous spatial and temporal compression of electron wave functions using shaped optical fields, enabling sub-angstrom, attosecond electron focusing for advanced microscopy.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach using parallel light-electron interactions to control both spatial and temporal electron wave properties simultaneously.

Findings

Achieved sub-angstrom, attosecond electron focal spots.

Demonstrated spatial and temporal compression of electron wave functions.

Enabled potential for ultrafast atomic-scale imaging.

Abstract

The ability to modulate free electrons with light has emerged as a powerful tool to produce attosecond electron wavepackets. However, research has so far aimed at the manipulation of the longitudinal wave function component, while the transverse degrees of freedom have primarily been utilized for spatial rather than temporal shaping. Here, we show that the coherent superposition of parallel light-electron interactions in separate spatial zones allows for a simultaneous spatial and temporal compression of a convergent electron wave function, enabling the formation of sub-{\AA}ngstr\"om focal spots of attosecond duration. The proposed approach will facilitate the exploration of previously inaccessible ultrafast atomic-scale phenomena in particular enabling attosecond scanning transmission electron microscopy.