Work

Ultra-Nonlinear Subcycle Photoemission of Few-Electron States from Sharp Gold Nanotapers

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: The generation of ultrashort electron wavepackets is crucial for the development of ultrafast electron microscopes. Recent studies on Coulomb-correlated few-electron number states, photoemitted from sharp metallic tapers, have shown emission nonlinearities in the multiphoton photoemission regime which scale with the electron number. Here, we study few-electron photoemission from gold nanotapers triggered by few-cycle near-infrared pulses, demonstrating extreme 20th-order nonlinearities for electron triplets. We report interferometric autocorrelation traces of the electron yield that are quenched to a single emission peak with subfemtosecond duration due to these high nonlinearities. The modulation of the emission yield by the carrier-envelope phase suggests that electron emission predominantly occurs during a single half cycle of the driving laser field. When applying a bias voltage to the tip, recollisions in the electron trajectories are suppressed and coherent subcycle electron beams are generated with promising prospects for ultrafast electron microscopy with subcycle time resolution.

Source: Nano Letters

DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c03240

Authors: Germann Hergert, Rasmus Lampe, Andreas Wöste, Christoph Lienau

Institution: Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg

Language: English

Topic: Laser-Matter Interactions and Applications

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,500

Funders: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Volkswagen Foundation, Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur