Electrons play a pivotal role in photonics through processes underlying the optical response of materials, for example in plasmonic and excitonic optical modes. The decay of optical excitations through an ultrafast cascade of electronic processes is also the subject of an active field of research for its implications in light harvesting, optical sensing, and catalysis, as well as free-electron and solid-state light sources. Likewise, ultrafast electronic processes down to attosecond and smaller time scales is intimately related to how electrons behave in the presence of optical excitations. Adding to this broad perspective on electrons for photonics, recent advances in the control and understanding of free electrons and their interactions with optical fields has emerged as a powerful area with high potential to revolutionize photonics from a fundamental viewpoint, but also in anticipation of electron-based photonic applications beyond those that exist nowadays. This school will provide an overview on this emerging field based on lectures by leading researchers over a wide variety of specific subjects.
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