Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Attosecond science-the control of electrons by ultrashort laser pulses-is developing into lightfield-driven, or petahertz, electronics. Optical-field-driven nanostructures provide elements for such electronics, which rely on understanding electron dynamics in the optical near field. Here we report near-field-induced low-energy stripes in carrier-envelope-phase-dependent electron spectra-a spectral feature that appears in the direct electrons emitted from a strongly driven nanostructure. These stripes arise from the subcycle sensitivity of the ponderomotive acceleration of electrons injected into a strong near-field gradient by a few-cycle optical waveform. They allow the tracking of direct and rescattered electron emissions on subcycle timescales and provide access to the electron momentum width at emission. Because this effect occurs in the direct electron signal, a large fraction of the emitted electrons can be steered, enabling the isolation of individual attosecond electron bursts with high charge density.
Source: Nature Physics
Authors: Jonas Heimerl, Stefan Meier, Anne Herzig, Felix López Hoffmann, Lennart Seiffert, Daniel M. B. Lesko, Simon Hillmann, Simon Wittigschlager, Tobias Weitz, Thomas Fennel, Peter Hommelhoff
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $12,690
OpenAlex ID: W4416133531