Authors
Songyu Zhu, Yushan Zeng, Chenhao Pan, Yiming Pan, Ye Tian, Ruxin Li
Published in
Physical review letters. Volume 137. Issue 14. Pages 143601. Oct 02, 2026.
Abstract
The pursuit of programmable light sources with high coherence and spectral purity hinges on establishing a precise set of phase relationships in light-matter interactions. Here, we demonstrate that the quadratic dispersion of a freely propagating electron wave packet serves as a programmable quantum medium. Prepared in a coherent momentum-state ladder via a single laser interaction, the electron subsequently undergoes deterministic phase evolution during free propagation-an intrinsic process that compiles its quantum state into two distinct output channels. This mechanism, quantified by a quantum bunching factor, enables (i) Talbot-resonant bunching, where the electron density self-structures into subcycle combs with tunable harmonic selectivity, and (ii) coherent phase transfer of the programmed quadratic phase to light, generating nonclassical photon states such as multicomponent Schrödinger cat states via energy-resolved electron readout. This quadratic-phase programming provides a drift-section platform for Talbot-selected coherent short-wavelength emission and nonclassical light synthesis based on electron self-interference.
PMID:
42886929
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 17 Oct 2026.
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