title: Ultrafast electron dynamics in phenylalanine initiated by attosecond pulses.
abstract: In the past decade, attosecond technology has opened up the investigation of ultrafast electronic processes in atoms, simple molecules, and solids. Here, we report the application of isolated attosecond pulses to prompt ionization of the amino acid phenylalanine and the subsequent detection of ultrafast dynamics on a sub-4.5-femtosecond temporal scale, which is shorter than the vibrational response of the molecule. The ability to initiate and observe such electronic dynamics in polyatomic molecules represents a crucial step forward in attosecond science, which is progressively moving toward the investigation of more and more complex systems.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Photonics and Nanotechnologies (IFN)-Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Calegari
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química, Modulo 13, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco 28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ayuso
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Trabattoni
authors.affiliation: Centre for Plasma Physics, School of Maths and Physics, Queen's University, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Belshaw
authors.affiliation: Centre for Plasma Physics, School of Maths and Physics, Queen's University, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De Camillis
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Anumula
authors.affiliation: IFN-CNR, Via Trasea 7, 35131 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Frassetto
authors.affiliation: IFN-CNR, Via Trasea 7, 35131 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Poletto
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química, Modulo 13, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco 28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Palacios
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Farmaceutiche, Università di Trieste and CNR-Istituto Officina dei Materiali, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Decleva
authors.affiliation: Centre for Plasma Physics, School of Maths and Physics, Queen's University, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK.
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Greenwood
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química, Modulo 13, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco 28049 Madrid, Spain. Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados en Nanociencia, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain. fernando.martin@uam.es mauro.nisoli@polimi.it.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Martín
authors.affiliation: Institute of Photonics and Nanotechnologies (IFN)-Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy. Department of Physics, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy. fernando.martin@uam.es mauro.nisoli@polimi.it.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nisoli
mesh_terms: D004583:Electrons; D007477:Ions / Q000737:chemistry; D015394:Molecular Structure; D010649:Phenylalanine / Q000737:chemistry*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D007477:Ions; D010649:Phenylalanine