Single-cycle nonlinear optics.
Nonlinear optics plays a central role in the advancement of optical science and laser-based technologies. We report on the confinement of the nonlinear interaction of light with matter to a single wave cycle and demonstrate its utility for time-resolved and strong-field science. The electric field of 3.3-femtosecond, 0.72-micron laser pulses with a controlled and measured waveform ionizes atoms near the crests of the central wave cycle, with ionization being virtually switched off outside this interval. Isolated sub-100-attosecond pulses of extreme ultraviolet light (photon energy approximately 80 electron volts), containing approximately 0.5 nanojoule of energy, emerge from the interaction with a conversion efficiency of approximately 10(-6). These tools enable the study of the precision control of electron motion with light fields and electron-electron interactions with a resolution approaching the atomic unit of time ( approximately 24 attoseconds).
Goulielmakis
E
E
Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Strasse 1, D-85748 Garching, Germany. elgo@mpq.mpg.de
Schultze
M
M
Hofstetter
M
M
Yakovlev
V S
VS
Gagnon
J
J
Uiberacker
M
M
Aquila
A L
AL
Gullikson
E M
EM
Attwood
D T
DT
Kienberger
R
R
Krausz
F
F
Kleineberg
U
U