Transverse Electron-Beam Shaping with Light

Interfacing electrons and light enables ultrafast electron microscopy and quantum control of electrons, as well as new optical elements for high-sensitivity imaging. Here, we demonstrate for the first time programmable transverse electron-beam shaping in free space based on ponderomotive potentials from short intense laser pulses. We can realize both convex and concave electron lenses with a focal length of a few millimeters, comparable to those in state-of-the-art electron microscopes. We further show that we can realize almost arbitrary deflection patterns by shaping the ponderomotive potentials using a spatial light modulator. Our modulator is lossless and programmable, has unity fill factor, and could pave the way to electron wave-front shaping with hundreds of individually addressable pixels.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates for the first time programmable transverse electron-beam shaping in free space based on ponderomotive potentials from short intense laser pulses. Both convex and concave electron lenses with a similar focal length to state-of-the-art electron microscopes can be realized, and almost arbitrary deflection patterns can be achieved by shaping the ponderomotive potentials using a spatial light modulator.