Dr. Eleftherios Goulielmakis
Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics
Tracking Electronic
Processes with Sub-100-Attosecond Resolution
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
4:00 p.m.
Cardwell 102
Electronic processes in atoms and
molecules occur typically on a time scale spanning the range of a few tens of
attoseconds (1 as =10-18
s) to a few tens of femtoseconds (1 fs = 10-15 s).
Important developments towards the realization of
experimental techniques capable to access electron dynamics in microscopic
systems include the generation of isolated soft-x-ray, attosecond pulses (1) as
well as the direct characterization and control of light fields (2). These
technologies have opened up new avenues for improving the temporal resolution
with which we can observe the microcosm down to ~100-attoseconds, and they have
offered unprecedented accuracy in steering electron motion at the frequency of
light (3).
I will present recent developments that comprise a substantial extension of the
tools of attosecond metrology. These include powerful, sub-100-attosecond
soft-x-ray pulses (4) generated with waveform-controlled laser fields,
comprising merely 1.5 oscillations, which are used to drive emission from atoms.
These pulses, combined in precise synchrony with advanced excitation sources in
the deep ultraviolet (5), hold promise for triggering and tracking electronic
process in atoms, molecules and solids with a resolution that may approach the
atomic unit of time ( 1 a.u. ~24 attoseconds).
(1)
R. Kienberger,
(2) E. Goulielmakis, M. Uiberacker, R. Kienberger et al.,
‘Direct measurement of light waves’ Science 305 (2004) 1267
(3)
Goulielmakis E,
Yakovlev VS
,
Cavalieri AL,
Attosecond control and
measurement: Lightwave electronics, Science
317, 769 ( 2007)
(4) E. Goulielmakis et al., ‘Sub-100- attosecond
soft-x-ray pulses’ to be submitted
(5) U. Graf et al., ‘Powerful 3.7 fs pulses in the deep ultraviolet’ to be
submitted