From quantum control of electron hole dynamics in polyatomic molecules towards attosecond pulse shaping

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Olga Smirnova
• Subject Area: Optics, Quantum Optics and Physics of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas
• Term: from 2010 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 178262358

• Final Report Year: 2019

Final Report Abstract

Attosecond and strong-field physics develops and uses new methods and tools for controlling, shaping, and imaging dynamics of matter with light, taking advantage of the new opportunities for shaping individual light oscillations. In this project, we demonstrated the sensitivity of the sub-cycle strong-field response to orbital momentum and spin on the sub-cycle timescale. Taking advantage of newly developed analytical theory of strong-field ionization, which has been validated numerically, we have demonstrated generation of ring currents and spin-polarized electron bunches in strong-field ionization, rigorously analysed the impact of Coulomb effects on tunnelling time measurements using the attoclock protocol, developed the concept of Larmor clock for strong-field ionization. We have demonstrated full control over the sub-cycle electron response in IR fields. Since the strong field response is ubiquitous in atoms molecules and solids, our study can enable sub-laser-cycle imaging of magnetic, chiral and topological phenomena in various systems from gas phase molecules to quantum materials. This general vision is supported by our recent results on using these properties of strong field response to distinguish different topological phases on ultrafast time scale.

Publications

• Ab initio verification of the analytical Rmatrix theory for strong field ionization, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 47 (2014) 204020 (10pp)
  Torlina, Lisa; Morales, Felipe; Muller, H G & Smirnova, Olga
  
• Hole dynamics and spin currents after ionization in strong circularly polarized laser fields, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 47 (2014) 204020 (10pp)
  Barth, Ingo & Smirnova, Olga
  
• Attosecond tunnelling interferometry, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 47 (2014) 124025 (11pp)
  Pedatzur, O.; Orenstein, G.; Serbinenko, V.; Soifer, H.; Bruner, B. D.; Uzan, A. J.; Brambila, D. S.; Harvey, A. G.; Torlina, L.; Morales, F.; Smirnova, O. & Dudovich, N.
  
• Interpreting attoclock measurements of tunnelling times, Nature Physics 11 (6), 503 (2015)
  Torlina, Lisa; Morales, Felipe; Kaushal, Jivesh; Ivanov, Igor; Kheifets, Anatoli; Zielinski, Alejandro; Scrinzi, Armin; Muller, Harm Geert; Sukiasyan, Suren; Ivanov, Misha & Smirnova, Olga
  
• Opportunities for detecting ring currents using an attoclock setup, Phys. Rev. A 92, 063405 (2015)
  Kaushal, Jivesh; Morales, Felipe & Smirnova, Olga
  
• Spin–orbit Larmor clock for ionization times in one-photon and strong-field regimes, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 48 (2015) 234002 (14pp)
  Kaushal, Jivesh; Morales, Felipe; Torlina, Lisa; Ivanov, Misha & Smirnova, Olga
  
• Electron spin polarization in strong-field ionization of xenon atoms, Nature Photonics 10 (8), 526, 2015
  Hartung, Alexander; Morales, Felipe; Kunitski, Maksim; Henrichs, Kevin; Laucke, Alina; Richter, Martin; Jahnke, Till; Kalinin, Anton; Schöffler, Markus; Schmidt, Lothar Ph. H.; Ivanov, Misha; Smirnova, Olga & Dörner, Reinhard
  
• Coulomb time delays in high harmonic generation, New Journal of Physics 19, 023012, (2017)
  Torlina, Lisa & Smirnova, Olga
  
• Looking inside the tunnelling barrier III: spin polarisation in strong field ionisation from orbitals with high angular momentum, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 51 (2018) 174003 (11pp)
  J. Kaushal, & O. Smirnova
  
• Looking inside the tunnelling barrier: I.Strong field ionisation from orbitals with high angular momentum in circularly polarised fields, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 51 (2018) 174001 (15pp)
  Kaushal, Jivesh & Smirnova, Olga
  
• Looking inside the tunnelling barrier: II. Co and counter-rotating electrons at the ‘tunnelling exit’, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 51 (2018) 174002 (15pp)
  Kaushal, Jivesh & Smirnova, Olga
  
• Ultrafast preparation and detection of ring currents in single atoms, Nature Physics 14 (7), 701, (2018)
  Eckart, Sebastian; Kunitski, Maksim; Richter, Martin; Hartung, Alexander; Rist, Jonas; Trinter, Florian; Fehre, Kilian; Schlott, Nikolai; Henrichs, Kevin; Schmidt, Lothar Ph. H.; Jahnke, Till; Schöffler, Markus; Liu, Kunlong; Barth, Ingo; Kaushal, Jivesh; Morales, Felipe; Ivanov, Misha; Smirnova, Olga & Dörner, Reinhard