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Coupling Free Electrons to a Trapped-Ion Quantum Computer

Elias Pescoller1,2,*, Santiago Beltrán-Romero2,3, Sebastian Egginger4, Nicolas Jungwirth5, Martino Zanetti6,7,2, Dominik Hornof2,3, Michael S. Seifner2,3, Iva Březinová1,†, Philipp Haslinger2,3,‡ et al.

Thomas Juffmann6,7,§, Johannes Kofler4,∥, Dennis Rätzel2,3,8,¶, and Philipp Schindler5,**

  • *Contact author: elias.pescoller@tuwien.ac.at
  • †Contact author: iva.brezinova@tuwien.ac.at
  • ‡Contact author: philipp.haslinger@tuwien.ac.at
  • §Contact author: thomas.juffmann@univie.ac.at
  • ∥Contact author: johannes.kofler@jku.at
  • Contact author: dennis.raetzel@tuwien.ac.at
  • **Contact author: philipp.schindler@uibk.ac.at
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 150804 – Published 9 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/w6t7-9txs

Abstract

Freely propagating electrons may serve as quantum probes that can become coherently correlated with other quantum systems, offering access to advanced metrological resources. We propose a setup that coherently couples free electrons in an electron microscope to a trapped-ion quantum processor, enabling nondestructive, quantum-coherent detection and the accumulation of information across multiple electrons. Our analysis shows that single electrons can induce resolvable qubit excitations, establishing a platform for practical applications such as quantum-enhanced, dose-efficient electron microscopy.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 150804– Published 9 October, 2026
  • Received 27 January 2026
  • Accepted 16 July 2026
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