Merging advanced photonics with ultrafast electron microscopy

Armin Feist^a^,^b

^aDepartment of Ultrafast Dynamics, Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences

^b4th Physical Institute – Solids and Nanostructures, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

Proceedings of MATSUS Fall 2025 Conference (MATSUSFall25)

E8 Materials in motion: Imaging nanoscale dynamics with photons and electrons - #NanoDyn

València, Spain, 2025 October 20th - 24th

Organizer: Seryio Saris

Invited Speaker, Armin Feist, presentation 343
Publication date: 21st July 2025

Ultrafast transmission electron microscopy (UTEM) provides access to dynamics in heterogeneous nanomaterials by implementing laser-pump electron-probe spectroscopy, diffraction, and imaging [1]. In particular, tailored optical interactions offers unique insights into nanophotonic systems and promise the coherent control of free electrons and material excitations [2].

Here, I will discuss new opportunities in time-resolved and ultrafast electron microscopy for the study of attosecond phase-resolved optical dynamics and integrated photonics systems. Incorporating electron energy gain spectroscopy (EEGS) and correlated single-particle detection, we implement high-precision photonic mode imaging and establish a novel free-electron-driven quantum light source.

In a first line of experiments, photon-induced near-field electron microscopy (PINEM) [3] using nanometer-focussed electron beams [4] enables mode-resolved analysis of plasmonic nanocavities, and consecutive mixing with a phase-locked reference gives access to attosecond field-driven dynamics [5].

Secondly, high-Q integrated photonic microresonators facilitate efficient electron-light interaction even using a continuous electron beam [6]. High-frequency detuning of the exciting laser and nanosecond detection of electron spectra enable μeV-electron spectroscopy and imaging the buildup of dissipative Kerr solitons (DKSs) [7].

Building on this platform, even the single particle electron-photon interaction becomes accessible, enabling the generation of electron-photon pair [8], and photon Fock states [9] at an empty cavity, which we monitor by nanosecond resolved correlation spectroscopy.

Ultimately, tailored electron-light interactions and the ability to induce highly correlated multi-electron/photon states may provide new avenues in electron microscopy, including new contrast mechanisms and enhanced sensitivity. Establishing single-particle coupling is pivotal for the emerging field of free-electron quantum optics, promising hybrid quantum technology that fuses free electrons and light.

References:

[1] Zewail, A. H. Four-Dimensional Electron Microscopy. Science 2010, 328 (5975), 187–193.

[2] Abajo, F. J. G. de; Polman, A.; Velasco, C. I.; Kociak, M.; Tizei, L. H. G.; Stéphan, O.; Meuret, S.; Sannomiya, T.; Akiba, K.; Auad, Y.; Feist, A.; Ropers, C.; Baum, P.; Gaida, J. H.; Sivis, M.; Lourenço-Martins, H.; Serafini, L.; Verbeeck, J.; Ferrari, B. M.; Duncan, C. J. R.; Bravi, M. G.; Ostroman, I.; Vanacore, G. M.; Konečná, A.; Talebi, N.; Nussinson, E.; Ruimy, R.; Adiv, Y.; Niedermayr, A.; Kaminer, I.; Giulio, V. D.; Kfir, O.; Zhao, Z.; Shiloh, R.; Morimoto, Y.; Kozák, M.; Hommelhoff, P.; Barantani, F.; Carbone, F.; Chahshouri, F.; Albrecht, W.; Rey, S.; Coenen, T.; Kieft, E.; Robert, H. L. L.; Jong, F. de; Solà-Garcia, M. Roadmap for Quantum Nanophotonics with Free Electrons. arXiv:2503.14678 2025.

[3] Barwick, B.; Flannigan, D. J.; Zewail, A. H. Photon-Induced near-Field Electron Microscopy. Nature 2009, 462 (7275), 902–906.

[4] Feist, A.; Bach, N.; Rubiano da Silva, N.; Danz, T.; Möller, M.; Priebe, K. E.; Domröse, T.; Gatzmann, J. G.; Rost, S.; Schauss, J.; Strauch, S.; Bormann, R.; Sivis, M.; Schäfer, S.; Ropers, C. Ultrafast Transmission Electron Microscopy Using a Laser-Driven Field Emitter: Femtosecond Resolution with a High Coherence Electron Beam. Ultramicroscopy 2017, 176, 63–73.

[5] Gaida, J. H.; Lourenço-Martins, H.; Sivis, M.; Rittmann, T.; Feist, A.; García De Abajo, F. J.; Ropers, C. Attosecond Electron Microscopy by Free-Electron Homodyne Detection. Nat. Photonics 2024, 18 (5), 509–515.

[6] Henke, J.-W.; Raja, A. S.; Feist, A.; Huang, G.; Arend, G.; Yang, Y.; Kappert, F. J.; Wang, R. N.; Möller, M.; Pan, J.; Liu, J.; Kfir, O.; Ropers, C.; Kippenberg, T. J. Integrated Photonics Enables Continuous-Beam Electron Phase Modulation. Nature 2021, 600 (7890), 653–658.

[7] Yang, Y.; Henke, J.-W.; Raja, A. S.; Kappert, F. J.; Huang, G.; Arend, G.; Qiu, Z.; Feist, A.; Wang, R. N.; Tusnin, A.; Tikan, A.; Ropers, C.; Kippenberg, T. J. Free-Electron Interaction with Nonlinear Optical States in Microresonators. Science 2024, 383 (6679), 168–173.

[8] Feist, A.; Huang, G.; Arend, G.; Yang, Y.; Henke, J.-W.; Raja, A. S.; Kappert, F. J.; Wang, R. N.; Lourenço-Martins, H.; Qiu, Z.; Liu, J.; Kfir, O.; Kippenberg, T. J.; Ropers, C. Cavity-Mediated Electron-Photon Pairs. Science 2022, 377 (6607), 777–780.

[9] Arend, G.; Huang, G.; Feist, A.; Yang, Y.; Henke, J.-W.; Qiu, Z.; Jeng, H.; Raja, A. S.; Haindl, R.; Wang, R. N.; Kippenberg, T. J.; Ropers, C. Electrons Herald Non-Classical Light. arXiv:2409.11300 2024

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