Measuring and controlling the birth of attosecond XUV pulses

Abstract

Generating attosecond pulses has required a radically different approach from previous ultrafast optical methods. The technology of attosecond measurement, however, is built on established methods of characterizing femtosecond pulses: the pulse is measured after it has left the region where it was produced. We offer a completely different approach: in situ measurement. That is, we integrate attosecond-pulse production and measurement in a manner that can be applied to many high-order nonlinear interactions. To demonstrate this approach, we combine a low-intensity (<10−3) second-harmonic beam with the fundamental beam, to gently perturb the production process without significantly modifying it. The attosecond-pulse duration is read from the modulation of the even-harmonic signal as a function of the two-field delay. Increasing the second-harmonic intensity slightly (<10−2), we extend measurement to control. We demonstrate control by manipulating the high-harmonic spectrum with high efficiency.

Cite this article

Dudovich, N., Smirnova, O., Levesque, J. et al. Measuring and controlling the birth of attosecond XUV pulses. Nature Phys 2, 781–786 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys434

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