Letter abstract
Nature Physics 4, 545 - 549 (2008)
Published online: 4 May 2008 | doi:10.1038/nphys964
Subject Categories: Optical physics | Atomic and molecular physics | Techniques and instrumentation
Coherent control of attosecond emission from aligned molecules
W. Boutu1, S. Haessler1, H. Merdji1, P. Breger1, G. Waters2, M. Stankiewicz3, L. J. Frasinski4, R. Taieb5,6, J. Caillat5,6, A. Maquet5,6, P. Monchicourt1, B. Carre1 & P. Salieres1
Controlling attosecond electron wave packets and soft X-ray pulses represents a formidable challenge of general implication to many areas of science1, 2, 3, 4. A strong laser field interacting with atoms or molecules drives ultrafast intra-atomic/molecular electron wave packets on a subfemtosecond timescale, resulting in the emission of attosecond bursts of extreme-ultraviolet light5, 6. Controlling the intra-atomic/molecular electron dynamics enables steering of the attosecond emission7, 8. Here, we carry out a coherent control in linear molecules, where the interaction of the laser-driven electron wave packet with the core leads to quantum interferences9, 10, 11, 12. We demonstrate that these interferences can be finely controlled by turning the molecular axis relative to the laser polarization, that is, changing the electron recollision angle. The wave-packet coulombic distortion modifies the spectral phase jump measured in the extreme-ultraviolet emission. Our attosecond control of the interference results in attosecond pulse shaping, useful for future applications in ultrafast coherent control of atomic and molecular processes.
- CEA-Saclay, DSM, Service des Photons, Atomes et Molécules, 91191 Gif sur Yvette, France
- J.J. Thomson Physical Laboratory, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AF, UK
- Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, ul. Reymonta 4, 30-059 Kraków, Poland
- The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BW, UK
- UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR 7614, Laboratoire de Chimie Physique-Matière et Rayonnement, 11 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
- CNRS, UMR 7614, LCPMR F-75005 Paris, France
Correspondence to: P. Salieres1 e-mail: pascal.salieres@cea.fr
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