Time-of-flight photoelectron spectroscopy (TOF-PES) with exceptional energy and temporal resolution has emerged as a cornerstone diagnostic tool in attosecond science and ultrafast dynamics. This work comprehensively reviews the TOF-PES technology, its basic principles, and its crucial role in attosecond metrology. The first part in this paper introduces the historical development of TOF methods, from early ion mass spectrometry to modern photoelectron applications, detailing key innovations such as energy and spatial focusing, magnetic shielding, and delay-line detectors. The implementation of magnetic bottle spectrometers (MBES) is discussed in depth, emphasizing their advantages in wide-angle electron collection and improving energy resolution through trajectory collimation and magnetic gradient design.We then focus on the application of TOF-PES in attosecond pulse characterization, particularly in the RABBITT (reconstruction of attosecond beating by interference of two-photon transitions) and attosecond streaking techniques. A broad array of experimental breakthroughs is reviewed, including ultrafast delay scanning, energy-time mapping through photoelectron modulation, and the use of MBES to analyze the phase and amplitude of attosecond pulse trains with accuracy below 50 attosecond. These advances indicate that the TOF-PES is a key driving factor for temporal phase reconstruction and group delay measurement in the extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) spectral range.Then the integration of TOF-based detection in time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (TR-ARPES and ARTOF) is explored, making it possible to realize the full 3D momentum-resolved detection without mechanical rotation or slits. The synergistic effect between TOF and ultrafast laser sources promotes the simultaneous improvement of energy and momentum resolution in the Brillouin zone, with applications covering topological materials, superconductors, and charge-density wave systems.Finally, this review extends to momentum-resolved ultrafast electron-ion coincidence techniques. The use of TOF in COLTRIMS (cold target recoil ion momentum spectroscopy) and VMI (velocity map imaging) is evaluated, highlighting its indispensable role in resolving related electron-ion dynamics, few-body fragmentation processes, and tunneling time delays on attosecond and even zeptosecond scales.Overall, this work emphasizes the central role of TOF-PES in advancing the frontiers of ultrafast science. Although current challenges include space-charge effects, detector response limitations, and data handling complexity, future advances in quantum detection, AI-driven trajectory correction, and high-repetition-rate light sources are expected to overcome these barriers. TOF-PES, through its continuous evolution, is still a key platform for detecting quantum dynamics on the fastest known timescale.
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