Antoine Moulet

Synthesized Light Transients

Light spanning the near infrared to the ultraviolet has been confined in pulses shorter than a single optical cycle. Manipulation of electron dynamics calls for electromagnetic forces that can be confined to and controlled over sub-femtosecond time intervals. Tailored transients of light fields can provide these forces. We report on the generation of subcycle field transients spanning the infrared, visible, and ultraviolet frequency regimes with a 1.5-octave three-channel optical field synthesizer and their attosecond sampling. To demonstrate applicability, we field-ionized krypton atoms within a single wave crest and launched a valence-shell electron wavepacket with a well-defined initial phase. Half-cycle field excitation and attosecond probing revealed fine details of atomic-scale electron motion, such as the instantaneous rate of tunneling, the initial charge distribution of a valence-shell wavepacket, the attosecond dynamic shift (instantaneous ac Stark shift) of its energy levels, and its few-femtosecond coherent oscillations.

Extreme ultraviolet high-harmonic spectroscopy of solids

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) high-harmonic radiation emerging from laser-driven atoms, molecules or plasmas underlies powerful attosecond spectroscopy techniques and provides insight into fundamental structural and dynamic properties of matter. The advancement of these spectroscopy techniques to study strong-field electron dynamics in condensed matter calls for the generation and manipulation of EUV radiation in bulk solids, but this capability has remained beyond the reach of optical sciences. Recent experiments and theoretical predictions paved the way to strong-field physics in solids by demonstrating the generation and optical control of deep ultraviolet radiation in bulk semiconductors, driven by femtosecond mid-infrared fields or the coherent up-conversion of terahertz fields to multi-octave spectra in the mid-infrared and optical frequencies. Here we demonstrate that thin films of SiO2 exposed to intense, few-cycle to sub-cycle pulses give rise to wideband coherent EUV radiation extending in energy to about 40 electronvolts. Our study indicates the association of the emitted EUV radiation with intraband currents of multi-petahertz frequency, induced in the lowest conduction band of SiO2. To demonstrate the applicability of high-harmonic spectroscopy to solids, we exploit the EUV spectra to gain access to fine details of the energy dispersion profile of the conduction band that are as yet inaccessible by photoemission spectroscopy in wide-bandgap dielectrics. In addition, we use the EUV spectra to trace the attosecond control of the intraband electron motion induced by synthesized optical transients. Our work advances lightwave electronics in condensed matter into the realm of multi-petahertz frequencies and their attosecond control, and marks the advent of solid-state EUV photonics.

Optical attosecond pulses and tracking the nonlinear response of bound electrons.

The time it takes a bound electron to respond to the electromagnetic force of light sets a fundamental speed limit on the dynamic control of matter and electromagnetic signal processing. Time-integrated measurements of the nonlinear refractive index of matter indicate that the nonlinear response of bound electrons to optical fields is not instantaneous; however, a complete spectral characterization of the nonlinear susceptibility tensors—which is essential to deduce the temporal response of a medium to arbitrary driving forces using spectral measurements—has not yet been achieved. With the establishment of attosecond chronoscopy, the impulsive response of positive-energy electrons to electromagnetic fields has been explored through ionization of atoms and solids by an extreme-ultraviolet attosecond pulse or by strong near-infrared fields. However, none of the attosecond studies carried out so far have provided direct access to the nonlinear response of bound electrons. Here we demonstrate that intense optical attosecond pulses synthesized in the visible and nearby spectral ranges allow sub-femtosecond control and metrology of bound-electron dynamics. Vacuum ultraviolet spectra emanating from krypton atoms, exposed to intense waveform-controlled optical attosecond pulses, reveal a finite nonlinear response time of bound electrons of up to 115 attoseconds, which is sensitive to and controllable by the super-octave optical field. Our study could enable new spectroscopies of bound electrons in atomic, molecular or lattice potentials of solids, as well as light-based electronics operating on sub-femtosecond timescales and at petahertz rates.

Invited Article: Attosecond photonics: Synthesis and control of light transients

Ultimate control over light entails the capability of crafting its field waveform. Here, we detail the technological advances that have recently permitted the synthesis of light transients confinable to less than a single oscillation of its carrier wave and the precise attosecond tailoring of their fields. Our work opens the door to light field based control of electrons on the atomic, molecular, and mesoscopic scales.

Theory of attosecond transient-absorption spectroscopy of krypton for overlapping pump and probe pulses

We present a fully ab initio calculations for attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy of atomic krypton with overlapping pump and probe pulses. Within the time-dependent configuration interaction singles (TDCIS) approach, we describe the pump step (strong-field ionization using a near-infrared pulse) as well as the probe step (resonant electron excitation using an extreme-ultraviolet pulse) from first principles. We extend our TDCIS model and account for the spin-orbit splitting of the occupied orbitals. We discuss the spectral features seen in a recent attosecond transient absorption experiment [A. Wirth et al., Science 334, 195 (2011)]. Our results support the concept that the transient absorption signal can be directly related to the instantaneous hole population even during the ionizing pump pulse. Furthermore, we find strong deformations in the absorption lines when the overlap of pump and probe pulses is maximum. These deformations can be described by relative phase shifts in the oscillating ionic dipole. We discuss possible mechanisms contributing to these phase shifts. Our finding suggests that the nonperturbative laser dressing of the entire N-electron wave function is the main contributor.

Soft x-ray excitonics

Consecutive attosecond pulses reveal the dynamics of excitons ensuing from core-electron excitation in silica. A quick glimpse of the x-ray aftermath X-rays pass through your skin to reveal the inner workings below. At the atomic scale, x-rays skip past valence electrons to grab hold of the core electrons closer to the nucleus. Moulet et al. used two successive, extremely short laser pulses (lasting less than a quadrillionth of a second) to initiate and then track this process in a sample of silica. This study uncovered the angular momentum character and relaxation dynamics of the excitons, or electron-hole pairs, ensuing from the x-ray absorption. Science, this issue p. 1134 The dynamic response of excitons in solids is central to modern condensed-phase physics, material sciences, and photonic technologies. However, study and control have hitherto been limited to photon energies lower than the fundamental band gap. Here we report application of attosecond soft x-ray and attosecond optical pulses to study the dynamics of core-excitons at the L2,3 edge of Si in silicon dioxide (SiO2). This attosecond x-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (AXANES) technique enables direct probing of the excitons’ quasiparticle character, tracking of their subfemtosecond relaxation, the measurement of excitonic polarizability, and observation of dark core-excitonic states. Direct measurement and control of core-excitons in solids lay the foundation of x-ray excitonics.

Isolated optical attosecond pulses

We report on the precise synthesis and control of intense isolated attosecond pulses in optical frequencies and the use of them for unprecedented controls of electrons in atoms and molecules.

Coherent kiloelectronvolt x-rays generated by subcycle optical drivers: a feasibility study

We theoretically explored the feasibility of high-harmonic generation in the kiloelectronvolt spectral range by optical waveforms of durations progressively shortened from multicycle to subcycle. Our study revealed that subcycle optical pulses offer a clear advantage in generating isolated x-ray attosecond pulses. In combination with their sub-fs optical drivers these pulses will open the route for x-ray attosecond pump-optical attosecond probe experiments, advancing attosecond streaking and attosecond absorption techniques to new realms of investigation of electronic processes.

Synthesis of isolated optical attosecond pulses

We report on the synthesis and precise control of isolated, intense attosecond pulses in optical frequencies. We use them to explore new control strategies of electrons in atoms and materials.

Attosecond physics with Synthesized Transients of Light

We demonstrate synthesis of superoctave, intense, subcycle transients of light and their application to attosecond control of matter.