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Attosecond Electron Wave Packet Interferences

Remetter, Thomas LU (2008) In Lund Reports on Atomic Physics LRAP-390.
Abstract
Attosecond pulses offer a new route to produce temporally localized electron wave packets (EWPs) that can easily be tailored by altering the properties of the attosecond pulses. In this thesis we will present different experiments, supported by theory, where attosecond EWPs are created in presence of a strong infrared (IR) field. By tuning the central frequency of the attosecond pulses and/or changing the target gas, the initial energy of the wave packets is set to be either above, or below the ionization potential.



In a first set of experiments, trains of free attosecond EWPs separated by half a laser period are created by single photon ionization. Depending on the timing of ionization compared to the external IR field,... (More)
Attosecond pulses offer a new route to produce temporally localized electron wave packets (EWPs) that can easily be tailored by altering the properties of the attosecond pulses. In this thesis we will present different experiments, supported by theory, where attosecond EWPs are created in presence of a strong infrared (IR) field. By tuning the central frequency of the attosecond pulses and/or changing the target gas, the initial energy of the wave packets is set to be either above, or below the ionization potential.



In a first set of experiments, trains of free attosecond EWPs separated by half a laser period are created by single photon ionization. Depending on the timing of ionization compared to the external IR field, a shear and/or a phase difference between the consecutive EWPs is induced. Because the EWPs are created coherently, interferences depending on their phase difference will occur. The analysis of the interferograms enables to retrieve information about the phase of the EWPs.



In a second set of experiments, bound electron wave packets are created below the ionization potential of a target gas. In the case of a train of bound EWPs, we find that the ionization is greatly enhanced by the presence of the infrared laser field and that this enhancement strongly depends on the timing between the attosecond pulses and the laser field. We show that this effect can be attributed to interference between consecutive wave packets. In the case of a single bound EWP, we are able to probe its time evolution with a short IR pulse. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • Professor Marangos, Jon, Department of Physics, Imperial College London, UK
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Attosecond Bound Electron Wave Packet Dynamics, Attosecond Pulse Train, High-Order Harmonics, Electron Wave Packet Interferometry, Attosecond Physics
in
Lund Reports on Atomic Physics
volume
LRAP-390
pages
142 pages
publisher
Division of Atomic Physics, Department of Physics, Faculty of Engineering, LTH, Lund University
defense location
Room B, Fysiska Institutionen, Professorsgatan 1, Lund University Faculty of Engineering
defense date
2008-03-28 13:15:00
ISSN
0281-2762
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
11588ed0-096f-4369-bd4c-f1c88f784d78 (old id 1043561)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:05:40
date last changed
2019-05-21 18:05:55
@phdthesis{11588ed0-096f-4369-bd4c-f1c88f784d78,
  abstract     = {{Attosecond pulses offer a new route to produce temporally localized electron wave packets (EWPs) that can easily be tailored by altering the properties of the attosecond pulses. In this thesis we will present different experiments, supported by theory, where attosecond EWPs are created in presence of a strong infrared (IR) field. By tuning the central frequency of the attosecond pulses and/or changing the target gas, the initial energy of the wave packets is set to be either above, or below the ionization potential.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
In a first set of experiments, trains of free attosecond EWPs separated by half a laser period are created by single photon ionization. Depending on the timing of ionization compared to the external IR field, a shear and/or a phase difference between the consecutive EWPs is induced. Because the EWPs are created coherently, interferences depending on their phase difference will occur. The analysis of the interferograms enables to retrieve information about the phase of the EWPs.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
In a second set of experiments, bound electron wave packets are created below the ionization potential of a target gas. In the case of a train of bound EWPs, we find that the ionization is greatly enhanced by the presence of the infrared laser field and that this enhancement strongly depends on the timing between the attosecond pulses and the laser field. We show that this effect can be attributed to interference between consecutive wave packets. In the case of a single bound EWP, we are able to probe its time evolution with a short IR pulse.}},
  author       = {{Remetter, Thomas}},
  issn         = {{0281-2762}},
  keywords     = {{Attosecond Bound Electron Wave Packet Dynamics; Attosecond Pulse Train; High-Order Harmonics; Electron Wave Packet Interferometry; Attosecond Physics}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Division of Atomic Physics, Department of Physics, Faculty of Engineering, LTH, Lund University}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  series       = {{Lund Reports on Atomic Physics}},
  title        = {{Attosecond Electron Wave Packet Interferences}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/3154853/1043567.pdf}},
  volume       = {{LRAP-390}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}