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Attophysics

At a glance

Nature volume 449, pages 997–999 (2007)Cite this article

Measurements on the attosecond timescale had been limited to the dynamics of electrons in an atomic gas. But a record has now been set in a quite different context — the photoemission of electrons from a surface.

The quest for faster and faster time-resolved measurements has reached a new level: Cavalieri et al. report (page 1029 of this issue)1 that they have measured a delay of 100 attoseconds in the emission of electrons ejected from a surface irradiated by light. This is not just the experiment with the best time resolution yet; it is also the first time that attosecond metrology has been applied to a solid, rather than a gaseous, system.

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Figure 1: Fast light on a dark place.

References

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  1. David M. Villeneuve is at the National Research Council of Canada, 100 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R6, Canada. david.villeneuve@nrc.ca ,

    David M. Villeneuve

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  1. David M. Villeneuve
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Villeneuve, D. At a glance. Nature 449, 997–999 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/449997a

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