Tunable photon-induced spatial modulation of free electrons

Spatial modulation of electron beams is an essential tool for various applications such as nanolithography and imaging, yet its conventional implementations are severely limited and inherently non-tunable. Conversely, proposals of light-driven electron spatial modulation promise tunable electron wavefront shaping, for example, using the mechanism of photon-induced near-field electron microscopy. Here we present tunable photon-induced spatial modulation of electrons through their interaction with externally controlled surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). Using recently developed methods of shaping SPP patterns, we demonstrate a dynamic control of the electron beam with a variety of electron distributions and verify their coherence through electron diffraction. Finally, the nonlinearity stemming from energy post-selection provides us with another avenue for controlling the electron shape, generating electron features far below the SPP wavelength. Our work paves the way to on-demand electron wavefront shaping at ultrafast timescales, with prospects for aberration correction, nanofabrication and material characterization.