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.
Attosecond science is the study of processes that occur on a time scale of a few attoseconds (10-18 seconds) or less. Examples include the ionization and recollision of an electron from its parent atom or molecule. The speed of these phenomena means that they can only be investigated using optical techniques employing ultrafast lasers.
Researchers have demonstrated the generation and control of subfemtosecond pulse pairs from a two-colour X-ray free-electron laser and conducted pump–probe experiments in core-ionized molecules.
Attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy (ATAS) is a powerful scheme for monitoring the vibronic coherences that enables real-time observation of electronic motion, but the role of molecular rotation is usually neglected. The authors propose a theory fully accounting for molecular rotation in ATAS, closing the gap between theory and ATAS experiments.
The advent of isolated attosecond XUV pulse sources marks a new era in attosecond science, pivotal for the investigation of core electron dynamics. Here the authors discover that the coherent Raman coupling between the cation states leads to extra timedelay between different transition channels by applying the attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy on the investigation of complex dynamics of strong field ionization of Krypton.
Attosecond interferometry measurements of photoionization delays in planar carbon-based molecules can provide information on the dimension and shape of the two-dimensional hole generated in the process.
The interaction of atoms with intense squeezed light is affected by the quantum noise of the driving field whereby the quantum noise of the squeezed driving field is imprinted in the emitted high harmonics.
Attosecond charge migration in a neutral molecule has been observed to decohere within approximately 10 fs. However, this does not mean that the electronic coherence is irreversibly lost, as the charge migration is observed to revive after 40–50 fs. These findings have the potential to enable laser control of photochemical processes.
A sub-cycle modulation in reflectivity is observed in bulk crystals subjected to intense laser fields. The effect provides a new way to probe attosecond dynamics in materials.
Tunnelling currents inside plasmonic nanostructures are fast enough to gain direct access to the oscillating electric field of near-infrared and visible light, opening up exciting routes towards attosecond metrology of light–matter interaction and unique approaches to spectroscopy.
The combination of high-order harmonic polarimetry and sub-cycle control of electronic trajectories gives insight into the birth of attosecond electronic wave packets in molecules.
