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Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Multidimensional high harmonic spectroscopy of polyatomic molecules: detecting sub-cycle laser-driven hole dynamics upon ionization in strong mid-IR laser fields
    (Cambridge [u.a.] : Soc., 2016) Bruner, Barry D.; Mašín, Zdeněk; Negro, Matteo; Morales, Felipe; Brambila, Danilo; Devetta, Michele; Faccialà, Davide; Harvey, Alex G.; Ivanov, Misha; Mairesse, Yann; Patchkovskii, Serguei; Serbinenko, Valeria; Soifer, Hadas; Stagira, Salvatore; Vozzi, Caterina; Dudovich, Nirit; Smirnova, Olga
    High harmonic generation (HHG) spectroscopy has opened up a new frontier in ultrafast science, where electronic dynamics can be measured on an attosecond time scale. The strong laser field that triggers the high harmonic response also opens multiple quantum pathways for multielectron dynamics in molecules, resulting in a complex process of multielectron rearrangement during ionization. Using combined experimental and theoretical approaches, we show how multi-dimensional HHG spectroscopy can be used to detect and follow electronic dynamics of core rearrangement on sub-laser cycle time scales. We detect the signatures of laser-driven hole dynamics upon ionization and reconstruct the relative phases and amplitudes for relevant ionization channels in a CO2 molecule on a sub-cycle time scale. Reconstruction of channel-resolved complex ionization amplitudes on attosecond time scales has been a long-standing goal of high harmonic spectroscopy. Our study brings us one step closer to fulfilling this initial promise and developing robust schemes for sub-femtosecond imaging of multielectron rearrangement in complex molecular systems.
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    Attosecond recorder of the polarization state of light
    ([London] : Nature Publishing Group UK, 2018) Jiménez-Galán, Álvaro; Dixit, Gopal; Patchkovskii, Serguei; Smirnova, Olga; Morales, Felipe; Ivanov, Misha
    High harmonic generation in multi-color laser fields opens the opportunity of generating isolated attosecond pulses with high ellipticity. Such pulses hold the potential for time-resolving chiral electronic, magnetization, and spin dynamics at their natural timescale. However, this potential cannot be realized without characterizing the exact polarization state of light on the attosecond timescale. Here we propose and numerically demonstrate a complete solution of this problem. Our solution exploits the extrinsic two-dimensional chirality induced in an atom interacting with the chiral attosecond pulse and a linearly polarized infrared probe. The resulting asymmetry in the photoelectron spectra allows to reconstruct the complete polarization state of the attosecond pulse, including its possible time dependence. The challenging problem of distinguishing circularly polarized, partially polarized, or unpolarized pulses in the extreme ultraviolet range is also resolved. We expect this approach to become the core ingredient for attosecond measurements of chiral-sensitive processes in gas and condensed phase.
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    Sub-laser-cycle control of coupled electron–nuclear dynamics at a conical intersection
    ([London] : IOP, 2015) Richter, Maria; Bouakline, Foudhil; González-Vázquez, Jesús; Martínez-Fernández, Lara; Corral, Inés; Patchkovskii, Serguei; Morales, Felipe; Ivanov, Misha; Martín, Fernando; Smirnova, Olga
    Nonadiabatic processes play a fundamental role in the understanding of photochemical processes in excited polyatomic molecules. A particularly important example is that of radiationless electronic relaxation at conical intersections (CIs). We discuss new opportunities for controlling coupled electron–nuclear dynamics at CIs, offered by the advent of nearly single-cycle, phase-stable, mid-infrared laser pulses. To illustrate the control mechanism, a two-dimensional model of the NO2 molecule is considered. The key idea of the control scheme is to match the time scale of the laser field oscillations to the characteristic time scale of the wave packet transit through the CI. The instantaneous laser field changes the shape and position of the CI as the wave packet passes through. As the CI moves in the laser field, it 'slices' through the wave packet, sculpting it in the coordinate and momentum space in a way that is sensitive to the carrier-envelope phase of the control pulse. We find that the electronic coherence imparted on the sub-laser-cycle time scale manifests during much longer nuclear dynamics that follow on the many tens of femtosecond time scale. Control efficiency as a function of molecular orientation is analyzed, showing that modest alignment is sufficient for showing the described effects.
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    Attosecond control of spin polarization in electron–ion recollision driven by intense tailored fields
    ([Bad Honnef] : Dt. Physikalische Ges., 2017-07-07) Ayuso, David; Jiménez-Galán, Alvaro; Morales, Felipe; Ivanov, Misha; Smirnova, Olga
    Tunnel ionization of noble gas atoms driven by a strong circularly polarized laser field in combination with a counter-rotating second harmonic generates spin-polarized electrons correlated to the spin-polarized ionic core. Crucially, such two-color field can bring the spin-polarized electrons back to the parent ion, enabling the scattering of the spin-polarized electron on the spin-polarized parent ion. Here we show how one can control the degree of spin polarization as a function of electron energy and recollision time by tuning the laser parameters, such as the relative intensities of the counter-rotating fields. The attosecond precision of the control over the degree of spin polarization opens the door for attosecond control and spectroscopy of spin-resolved dynamics.