Extreme control over electrons in space and time
Dr. Peter Hommelhoff (Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik)

In free space, slow electrons are notoriously hard to control because of their large charge to mass ratio. We will report on two experiments where we utilize electric fields to confine and steer electrons. The one experiment centers on microwave fields to guide electrons in microfabricated Paul traps, aiming at low-energy guided electron interferometry [1]. The other experiment deals with sharp tips from which we emit electrons with optical fields, namely with few-cycle laser pulses, and show that electrons can be steered by the optical electric fields [2]. We observe matter-wave interference of electrons that undergo re-scattering with the parent tip in subsequent laser cycles [3]. We have hence achieved attosecond control over electrons in a nanoscale solid-state system, opening the field of lightwave electronics.

[1] Hoffrogge, Fröhlich, Kasevich, Hommelhoff, PRL 106, 193001 (2011) [2] Schenk, Krüger, Hommelhoff, PRL 105, 257601 (2010) [3] Krüger, Schenk, Hommelhoff, Nature 475, 78 (2011)