Search Results
Attosecond control of electron-ion recollision in high harmonic generation
2011, Gademann, G., Kelkensberg, F., Siu, W.K., Johnsson, P., Gaarde, M.B., Schafer, K.J., Vrakking, M.J.J.
We show that high harmonic generation driven by an intense nearinfrared (IR) laser can be temporally controlled when an attosecond pulse train (APT) is used to ionize the generation medium, thereby replacing tunnel ionization as the first step in the well-known three-step model. New harmonics are formed when the ionization occurs at a well-defined time within the optical cycle of the IR field. The use of APT-created electron wave packets affords new avenues for the study and application of harmonic generation. In the present experiment, this makes it possible to study harmonic generation at IR intensities where tunnel ionization does not give a measurable signal.
Attosecond electron spectroscopy using a novel interferometric pump-probe technique
2010, Mauritsson, J., Remetter, T., Swoboda, M., Klünder, K., L'Huillier, A., Schafer, K.J., Ghafur, O., Kelkensberg, F., Siu, W., Johnsson, P., Vrakking, M.J.J., Znakovskaya, I., Uphues, T., Zherebtsov, S., Kling, M.F., Lépine, F., Benedetti, E., Ferrari, F., Sansone, G., Nisoli, M.
We present an interferometric pump-probe technique for the characterization of attosecond electron wave packets (WPs) that uses a free WP as a reference to measure a bound WP. We demonstrate our method by exciting helium atoms using an attosecond pulse (AP) with a bandwidth centered near the ionization threshold, thus creating both a bound and a free WP simultaneously. After a variable delay, the bound WP is ionized by a few-cycle infrared laser precisely synchronized to the original AP. By measuring the delay-dependent photoelectron spectrum we obtain an interferogram that contains both quantum beats as well as multipath interference. Analysis of the interferogram allows us to determine the bound WP components with a spectral resolution much better than the inverse of the AP duration. © 2010 The American Physical Society.
Attosecond streaking in a nano-plasmonic field
2012, Kelkensberg, F., Koenderink, A.F., Vrakking, M.J.J.
A theoretical study of the application of attosecond streaking spectroscopy to time-resolved studies of the plasmonic fields surrounding isolated, resonantly excited spherical nanoparticles is presented. A classification of the different regimes in attosecond streaking is proposed and identified in our results that are derived from Mie calculations of plasmon fields, coupled to classical electron trajectory simulations. It is shown that in an attosecond streaking experiment, the electrons are almost exclusively sensitive to the component of the field parallel to the direction in which they are detected. This allows one to probe the different components of the field individually by resolving the angle of emission of the electrons. Finally, simulations based on fields calculated by finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) are compared with the results obtained using Mie fields. The two are found to be in good agreement with each other, supporting the notion that FDTD methods can be used to reliably investigate non-spherical structures.
Ultrafast relaxation dynamics of highly-excited states in N2 molecules excited by femtosecond XUV pulses
2013, Lucchini, M., Seung, Kim, K., Calegari, F., Kelkensberg, F., Siu, W.K., Sansone, G., Vrakking, M.J.J., Hochlaf, M., Nisoli, M.
We used velocity-map-imaging to measure electronic and nuclear dynamics in N2 molecules excited by a train of attosecond pulses. A time-to-space mapping of autoionization channel is demonstrated. It is found that the autoionization becomes energetically allowed when the two nuclei are still very close (~ 3 Å) and that it can be coherently manipulated by a strong femtosecond infrared pulse.