Attosecond tunnelling interferometry

O. Pedatzur*, G. Orenstein, V. Serbinenko, H. Soifer, B. D. Bruner, A. J. Uzan, D. S. Brambila, A. G. Harvey, L. Torlina, F. Morales, O. Smirnova, N. Dudovich

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

105 Scopus citations

Abstract

Attosecond physics offers new insights into ultrafast quantum phenomena involving electron dynamics on the fastest measurable timescales. The rapid progress in this field enables us to re-visit one of the most fundamental strong-field phenomena: field-induced tunnel ionization. In this work, we employ high-harmonic generation to probe the electron wavefunction during field-induced tunnelling through a potential barrier. By using a combination of strong and weak driving laser fields, we modulate the atomic potential barrier on optical subcycle timescales. This induces a temporal interferometer between attosecond bursts originating from consecutive laser half-cycles. Our study provides direct insight into the basic properties of field-induced tunnelling, following the evolution of the electronic wavefunction within a temporal window of approximately 200 €‰attoseconds.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)815-819
Number of pages5
JournalNature Physics
Volume11
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Oct 2015
Externally publishedYes

Funding

FundersFunder number
Israel Science Foundation
Crown Center of Photonics
Minerva Foundation
European Research Council
Deutsche ForschungsgemeinschaftSM 292/3-1, SM 292/2-3
European Commission336468

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