Localization effects are central to disordered electronics and photonics. In electronics, Anderson localization governs electron confinement in randomly perturbed lattices. Similarly, its photonic counterpart inhibits light transport via disorder but with a unique exception: Brewster-anomaly delocalization, where the Brewster effect prevents multiple-scattering interference and counteracts the localization. Despite extensive research in electronics and photonics separately, the intricate role of localization effects in interactions between free electrons and light—vital for lasers, accelerators, microscopy and spectroscopy, and quantum information—remains largely unexplored. At the same time, localization effects are widely regarded as a key factor limiting the efficient coupling between free electrons and light in random media. Here, we overcome this key limitation via the unconventional interplay between Brewster-anomaly delocalization and free-electron radiation. In this way, free-electron radiation can be localization-free, intense and directional even in strongly disordered, unengineered multilayers. Essentially, this delocalization-mediated free-electron radiation is remarkably invariant not only to the random-medium configuration, but also to the light frequency and the electron velocity. Our findings unlock new opportunities for particle detectors and achromatic light sources operating in easy-to-fabricate complex media at previously inaccessible frequencies.

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• Electron beams & optics
• Metamaterials
• Photonic crystals
• Random & disordered media