In this talk, we establish chip-based integrated silicon nitride photonics as a platform for experiments on the interactions between free electrons and light. Placing the fibre-coupled microresonators in a transmission electron microscope, we observe a quantised loss of energy for electrons passing the waveguide in an aloof geometry and inelastically scattering off the initially empty cavity modes while generating photons. Coincidence measurements performed on both particles reveal the common origin of these correlated electron-photon pairs, while post-selection allows for enhanced imaging of the resonator’s optical modes and promises applications as a high-fidelity heralded photon Fock state source.
Strong coupling in the interaction of free electrons with photons will allow for the exploration of various new effects. Here, we demonstrate CW-driven inelastic electron-photon scattering at a fiber-integrated high-Q Si3N4 microresonator, enabled by resonant field enhancement and electron-light phase matching. Employing energy-filtered imaging and laser detuning-dependent measurements, we characterise the electron’s interaction with the whispering gallery mode spatially and spectrally. Finally, we discuss prospects of electron-driven photon generation in the resonator. This combination of electron microscopy and integrated photonics opens up new paths for optical electron beam modulation, electron probing of nonlinear optical effects and free-electron cavity quantum optics.
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