Letter abstract
Nature Physics 2, 319 - 322 (2006)
doi:10.1038/nphys281
Subject Categories: Optical physics | Atomic and molecular physics
Controlling attosecond electron dynamics by phase-stabilized polarization gating
I. J. Sola1, E. Mével1, L. Elouga1, E. Constant1, V. Strelkov2, L. Poletto3, P. Villoresi3, E. Benedetti4, J.-P. Caumes4, S. Stagira4, C. Vozzi4, G. Sansone4 and M. Nisoli4
Attosecond electron wavepackets are produced when an intense laser field ionizes an atom or a molecule1. When the laser field drives the wavepackets back to the parent ion, they interfere with the bound wavefunction, producing coherent subfemtosecond extreme-ultraviolet light bursts. When only a single return is possible2, 3, an isolated attosecond pulse is generated. Here we demonstrate that by modulating the polarization of a carrier-envelope phase-stabilized short laser pulse4, we can finely control the electron-wavepacket dynamics. We use high-order harmonic generation to probe these dynamics. Under optimized conditions, we observe the signature of a single return of the electron wavepacket over a large range of energies. This temporally confines the extreme-ultraviolet emission to an isolated attosecond pulse with a broad and tunable bandwidth. Our approach is very general, and extends the bandwidth of attosecond isolated pulses in such a way that pulses of a few attoseconds seem achievable. Similar temporal resolution could also be achieved by directly using the broadband electron wavepacket. This opens up a new regime for time-resolved tomography of atomic or molecular wavefunctions5, 6 and ultrafast dynamics.
- Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications, Université Bordeaux I, UMR 5107 (CNRS, Bordeaux 1, CEA), Domaine du Haut Carré, 351 Cours de la Libération, 33405 Talence Cédex, France
- General Physics Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, 38 Vavilova st., Moscow 119991, Russia
- CNR-INFM, Laboratory of Ultraviolet and X-ray Optical Research, Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, Via Gradenigo, 6, 35131 Padova, Italy
- CNR-INFM, National Laboratory for Ultrafast and Ultraintense Optical Science, Department of Physics, Politecnico of Milan, Piazza L. da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy
Correspondence to: E. Constant1 e-mail: constant@celia.u-bordeaux1.fr
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