Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Attosecond Physics

Better by half

The ability to distinguish the high-harmonic emission generated by individual half-cycles of a driving laser leads to a simpler approach to characterizing the laser pulse and isolating a single attosecond pulse.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: The carrier envelope phase, φCE, of a short pulse is the phase difference between the peak of the electric field (black line) and the peak of the intensity (dashed blue line).
Figure 2: High-harmonic radiation is produced when an intense optical pulse rips an electron from an atom and then slams it back into the ionic core.

References

  1. Jones, D. J. et al. Science 288, 635–639 (2000).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Udem, T., Holzwarth, R. & Hänsch, T. W. Nature 416, 233–237 (2002).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Cundiff, S. T. & Ye, J. Rev. Mod. Phys. 75, 325–342 (2003).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Brabec, T. & Krausz, F. Rev. Mod. Phys. 72, 545–591 (2000).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Baltuška, A. et al. Nature 421, 611–615 (2003).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Haworth, C. A. et al. Nature Phys. 3, 52–57 (2007).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Corkum, P. B. Phys. Rev. Lett. 71, 1994–1997 (1993).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Kienberger, R. et al. Nature 427, 817–821 (2004).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Sansone, G. et al. Science 314, 443–446 (2006).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Niikura, H., Villeneuve, D. & Corkum, P. B. Phys. Rev. A 73, 021402 (2006).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cundiff, S. Better by half. Nature Phys 3, 16–18 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys493

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys493

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing