Attosecond metrology of vacuum-ultraviolet high-order harmonics generated in semiconductors via laser-dressed photoionization of alkali metals
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Semiconductor crystals driven by strong mid-infrared pulses offer advantages for studying many-body physics and ultrafast optoelectronics via high-harmonic generation. While the process has been used to study solids in the presence strong mid-infrared fields, its potential as an attosecond light source is largely underexplored. We demonstrate that high-harmonics emitted from zinc-oxide crystals produce attosecond pulses, measured through spectroscopy of alkali metals. Using a cross-correlation approach, we photoionize Cesium atoms with vacuum-ultraviolet high-harmonics in the presence of a mid-infrared laser field. We observe oscillations in the photoelectron yield, originating from the instantaneous polarization of atoms by the laser field. The phase of these oscillations encodes the attosecond synchronization of the high-harmonics and is used for attosecond pulse metrology. This source opens new spectral windows for attosecond spectroscopy, enabling studies of bound-state dynamics in natural systems with low ionization energies, while facilitating the generation of non-classical entangled light states in the visible-VUV. Attosecond metrology in vacuum-ultraviolet. The study demonstrates vacuum-ultraviolet attosecond pulse generation in laser-driven semiconductors and a new spectral window for attosecond spectroscopy in natural systems across all states of matter.
Source: Nature Communications
Institutions: ELI-HU Research and Development Non-Profit, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Guangdong Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, TU Wien, Institute of Photonic Sciences, Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Bordeaux, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $6,990
Funders: Centres de Recerca de Catalunya, Institut de Ciències Fotòniques, European Commission, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Generalitat de Catalunya, General Secretariat for Research and Technology, Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation, QuantERA, European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency, Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme, Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca, European Regional Development Fund, National Key Research and Development Program of China
Awards: G1020546752, G1153010057, G120905174, G1305139904, G148743912, G1585387429, NExt level Quantum information processing for Science and Technology, G162601807, Junior Leader la Caixa Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme: Shaping the new generation of leaders in research, G1888088267, G1908469581, G1953887145, G2009240658, G2575991346, G2628364946, G2654780445, G2662765985, G2744780120, G2918952967, G2988934680, G3005324705, G3121110299, G3261693824, Integrated Management and reliable oPerations for User-based Laser Scientific Excellence, G348919436, G357246561, G3639969887, G3674674691, G3798495387, G3852333291, The Integrated Initiative of European Laser Research Infrastructures, G3886156397, G4042783231, G4239348134, ENhanced PhD Fellowship Programme in the Sciences of LIGHT, G434337789, G4359800586, G4630312626, G4680432388, G4727238542, G4937468798, G5017635489, G5065677113, G531036588, G5351077783, G5440125773, G544152971, G5547428264, G5800121100, G5967599077, G6275411036, Structured electric-dipole-based chirality, G6343838365, G6482940084, G6530900287, G6538096437, G6579039918, G6656126374, G6727213032, G6731467812, G6743926034, G6765981656, G6776171925, G7249932416, G7327758667, G7482212502, G7516228679, G7777819896, G8306836627, G8362900132, G848750135, G859637508, Optical Topologic Logic, G8969700414
OpenAlex ID: W4407228763