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Attosecond Wave Packet Metrology

Swoboda, Marko LU (2010) In Lund Reports on Atomic Physics 414.
Abstract
Attosecond pulses allow the study of electrons on their natural timescale. They are created from the interaction of atoms with ultrashort, intense laser pulses whose electric field approaches the strength of inner-atomic electric fields. This thesis presents experiments around the generation, characterization and application of attosecond pulses.



First, we study the influence of the atomic generation medium on the temporal properties of attosecond pulses. Their central photon energy can be controlled by using a two-color generation field and by thin-foil filtering techniques tailored to specific spectral bands. With these techniques, broadband attosecond pulses with durations down to 130 as have been measured. To... (More)
Attosecond pulses allow the study of electrons on their natural timescale. They are created from the interaction of atoms with ultrashort, intense laser pulses whose electric field approaches the strength of inner-atomic electric fields. This thesis presents experiments around the generation, characterization and application of attosecond pulses.



First, we study the influence of the atomic generation medium on the temporal properties of attosecond pulses. Their central photon energy can be controlled by using a two-color generation field and by thin-foil filtering techniques tailored to specific spectral bands. With these techniques, broadband attosecond pulses with durations down to 130 as have been measured. To characterize attosecond pulse trains at their birth, we introduce a new method that perturbs the generation laser field with its weak second harmonic. This allows us to assess the influence of the medium in the generation process. We then test the limits of a well-established pulse train characterization method with regard to probe intensity and demonstrate a way to circumvent these

limitations.



A second set of experiments uses attosecond pulses to excite atoms and molecules for the creation of ultrashort wave packets. Free electron wave packets can be controlled by an external laser field and driven to scatter off their parent ions. They also carry information on the atomic structure, which enables the phase-resolved characterization of unknown bound wave packets. Exposing molecules to attosecond pulses can trigger dissociation reactions that can be controlled by a delayed probe laser pulse. We present a study of different probe pulse properties and report the observation of attosecond electron dynamics inside a hydrogen molecule. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • Paulus, Gerhard G., Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Jena, Germany
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Molecular dissociation, Electron wave packets, Pulse characterization, Two-color harmonic generation, Attosecond pulse trains, Single attosecond pulses, Resonant two-photon ionization, Fysicumarkivet A:2010:Swoboda
in
Lund Reports on Atomic Physics
volume
414
pages
202 pages
publisher
Department of Physics, Lund University
defense location
Sal F, Fysicum, Professorsgatan 1, Lund University, Faculty of Engineering
defense date
2010-03-19 10:15:00
ISSN
0281-2762
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
196f054d-40fd-4db8-9cf8-fca5909a0266 (old id 1545435)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:14:37
date last changed
2019-05-21 18:00:13
@phdthesis{196f054d-40fd-4db8-9cf8-fca5909a0266,
  abstract     = {{Attosecond pulses allow the study of electrons on their natural timescale. They are created from the interaction of atoms with ultrashort, intense laser pulses whose electric field approaches the strength of inner-atomic electric fields. This thesis presents experiments around the generation, characterization and application of attosecond pulses.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
First, we study the influence of the atomic generation medium on the temporal properties of attosecond pulses. Their central photon energy can be controlled by using a two-color generation field and by thin-foil filtering techniques tailored to specific spectral bands. With these techniques, broadband attosecond pulses with durations down to 130 as have been measured. To characterize attosecond pulse trains at their birth, we introduce a new method that perturbs the generation laser field with its weak second harmonic. This allows us to assess the influence of the medium in the generation process. We then test the limits of a well-established pulse train characterization method with regard to probe intensity and demonstrate a way to circumvent these<br/><br>
limitations.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
A second set of experiments uses attosecond pulses to excite atoms and molecules for the creation of ultrashort wave packets. Free electron wave packets can be controlled by an external laser field and driven to scatter off their parent ions. They also carry information on the atomic structure, which enables the phase-resolved characterization of unknown bound wave packets. Exposing molecules to attosecond pulses can trigger dissociation reactions that can be controlled by a delayed probe laser pulse. We present a study of different probe pulse properties and report the observation of attosecond electron dynamics inside a hydrogen molecule.}},
  author       = {{Swoboda, Marko}},
  issn         = {{0281-2762}},
  keywords     = {{Molecular dissociation; Electron wave packets; Pulse characterization; Two-color harmonic generation; Attosecond pulse trains; Single attosecond pulses; Resonant two-photon ionization; Fysicumarkivet A:2010:Swoboda}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Department of Physics, Lund University}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  series       = {{Lund Reports on Atomic Physics}},
  title        = {{Attosecond Wave Packet Metrology}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/3249725/1545438.pdf}},
  volume       = {{414}},
  year         = {{2010}},
}