Observation of the Stimulated Quantum Cherenkov Effect

Dahan, Raphael; Nehemia, Saar; Shentcis, Michael; Reinhardt, Ori; Adiv, Yuval; Wang, Kangpeng; Beer, O.; Kurman, Yaniv; Shi, Xihang; Lynch, Morgan H.; Kaminer, Ido

doi:10.1364/cleo_qels.2020.ff1q.1

Cited by 8 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…In PINEM, electron and light pulses are made to interact in the presence of a sample, giving rise to multiple photon exchanges between the optical field and the electron, and leading to comb-like energy spectra characterized by sidebands that are associated with different numbers of exchanged photons and separated from the incident electron energy by a multiple of the photon energy. Recent experiments have measured hundreds of such sidebands produced through suitable combinations of sample geometry and illumi- * Electronic address: javier.garciadeabajo@nanophotonics.es nation conditions [23,24]. Additionally, electron pulse compression has been observed by free propagation of PINEM-modulated electrons over a sufficiently long distance [14,17,20,21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Free-Electron Shaping Using Quantum Light

Di Giulio,

de Abajo

2020

Preprint

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Controlling the wave function of free electrons is important to improve the spatial resolution of electron microscopes, the efficiency of electron interaction with sample modes of interest, and our ability to probe ultrafast materials dynamics at the nanoscale. In this context, attosecond electron compression has been recently demonstrated through interaction with the near fields created by scattering of ultrashort laser pulses at nanostructures followed by free electron propagation. Here, we show that control over electron pulse shaping, compression, and statistics can be improved by replacing coherent laser excitation by interaction with quantum light. We find that compression is accelerated for fixed optical intensity by using phase-squeezed light, while amplitude squeezing produces ultrashort double-pulse profiles. The generated electron pulses exhibit periodic revivals in complete analogy to the optical Talbot effect. We further reveal that the coherences created in a sample by interaction with the modulated electron are strongly dependent on the statistics of the modulating light, while the diagonal part of the sample density matrix reduces to a Poissonian distribution regardless of the type of light used to shape the electron. The present study opens a new direction toward the generation of free electron pulses with additional control over duration, shape, and statistics, which directly affect their interaction with a sample.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Free-Electron Shaping Using Quantum Light

Di Giulio,

de Abajo

2020

Preprint

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“…That requires phase matching, i.e., equating the electron group velocity with the optical phase velocity. Nearly relativistic electrons with energies around 100-200 keV are naturally phase-matched to traveling waves at visible frequencies in ordinary dielectrics, such as fused silica, which was previously exploited in a prism geometry for electron acceleration 34 and for stimulated Cherenkovtype interaction 35 . However, approaching a stronger coupling between photons and free electrons, ultimately leading to significant entanglement 36,37 , necessitates the combination of traveling-wave phase-matching with a high density of photonic states.…”

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confidence: 99%

Controlling Free Electrons with Optical Whispering-Gallery Modes

Kfir

Lourenço-Martins

Storeck

et al. 2020

Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics

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Free-electron beams serve as uniquely versatile probes of microscopic structure and composition 1,2 , and have repeatedly revolutionized atomic-scale imaging, from solid-state physics to structural biology [3][4][5] . Over the past decade, the manipulation and interaction of electrons with optical fields has seen significant progress, enabling novel imaging methods 6 , schemes of near-field electron acceleration 7,8 , and culminating in 4D microscopy techniques with both high temporal and spatial resolution 9,10 . However, weak coupling strengths of electron beams to optical excitations 11,12 are a standing issue for existing and emerging applications of optical free-electron control. Here, we demonstrate phase matched near-field coupling of a free-electron beam to optical whispering gallery modes of dielectric microresonators. The cavity-enhanced interaction with these optically excited modes imprints a strong phase modulation on co-propagating electrons, which leads to electron-energy sidebands up to hundreds of photon orders and a spectral broadening of 700 eV. Mapping the near-field interaction with ultrashort electron pulses in space and time, we trace the temporal ring-down of the microresonator following a femtosecond excitation and observe the cavity's resonant spectral response. Resonantly enhancing the coupling of electrons and light via optical cavities, with efficient injection and extraction, can open up novel applications such as continuous-wave acceleration, attosecond structuring, and real-time all-optical electron detection.

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“…Introduction.-The interactions of free electrons with matters have provided a number of technologies for the study of material and photonic systems [1][2][3][4]. Among these technologies, electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) probes the excitation spectrum of the matter [1][2][3], and photo-induced near-field electron microscopy (PINEM) detects the near-field of nano-structures under optical pumping [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. Moreover, in recent years, the quantum nature of the free electron has attracted considerable research interest [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among these technologies, electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) probes the excitation spectrum of the matter [1][2][3], and photo-induced near-field electron microscopy (PINEM) detects the near-field of nano-structures under optical pumping [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. Moreover, in recent years, the quantum nature of the free electron has attracted considerable research interest [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. In particular, over the last decade, engineering the quantum states of the free electron becomes possible.…”

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confidence: 99%

Quantum entanglement and modulation enhancement of free-electron-bound-electron interaction

Zhao,

Sun,

Fan

2020

Preprint

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The modulation and engineering of the free-electron wave function bring new ingredient to the electron-matter interaction. We study the dynamics of a free-electron passing by a two-level system fully quantum mechanically and emphasize the enhancement of interaction from the modulation of the free-electron wave function. In presence of modulation of the free-electron wave function, we show that the electron energy loss/gain spectrum is greatly enhanced for a coherent initial state of the two-level system, which can function as a probe of the atomic coherence. We further find that distantly separated two-level atoms can be entangled through interacting with the same free electron. For a dilute beam of modulated electrons interacting with the atom, our theory shows the enhanced interaction due to resonant modulation.

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Observation of the Stimulated Quantum Cherenkov Effect

Abstract: We present the first observation of the quantum nature of the Cherenkov effect, by phasematching light & electron waves. Interacting coherently along hundreds of microns, each electron simultaneously absorbs and emits hundreds of photon quanta.

Cited by 8 publications

References 7 publications

Free-Electron Shaping Using Quantum Light

Free-Electron Shaping Using Quantum Light

Controlling Free Electrons with Optical Whispering-Gallery Modes

Quantum entanglement and modulation enhancement of free-electron-bound-electron interaction

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