Abstract
The attosecond lighthouse is a method of using ultrafast wavefront rotation with high-harmonic generation to create a series of coherent, spatially separated attosecond pulses. Previously, temporal measurements by photoelectron streaking characterized isolated attosecond pulses created by manipulating the single-atom response1,2,3,4. The attosecond lighthouse, in contrast, generates a series of pulses that spatially separate and become isolated by propagation. Here, we show that ultrafast wavefront rotation maintains the single-atom response (in terms of temporal character) of an isolated attosecond pulse over two octaves of bandwidth. Moreover, we exploit the unique property of the attosecond lighthouse—the generation of several isolated pulses—to measure the three most intense pulses. These pulses each have a unique spectrum and spectral phase.
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Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge the technical assistance of D. Crane and B. Avery, and useful discussions with A. Naumov. We also acknowledge financial support from Canada's NSERC, NRC, CFI, and CRC, as well as from America's AFOSR and DARPA Pulse Program through a grant from AMRDEC.
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T.J.H., K.T.K. and P.B.C. designed the experiment. T.J.H., G.G.B., and K.T.K. performed the experiment. K.T.K. and T.J.H. provided the theoretical analysis. T.J.H. analysed the experimental data. T.J.H. and P.B.C. prepared the initial manuscript. All authors contributed in writing the manuscript.
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Hammond, T., Brown, G., Kim, K. et al. Attosecond pulses measured from the attosecond lighthouse. Nature Photon 10, 171–175 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2015.271
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2015.271
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