Dr. Michael ChiniUniversity of Central FloridaAttosecond light pulses hold the
promise for real-time measurement and control on the natural timescale of
electron motion, allowing researchers to “film” the first steps of
photo-induced chemical reactions and opening the door to “lightwave
electronics” steered by sub-optical-cycle variations in an intense laser field.
However, the experimental application of attosecond pulses to complex targets
(large molecules, clusters, and solids) has proven challenging, due to current
limitations in both attosecond laser technology and time-resolved spectroscopic
techniques. In this talk, I will discuss the application of attosecond pulses
using a new technique – attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy – which we
have demonstrated to probe and control electron wavepacket dynamics in atoms and
small molecules and which is the most promising technique for extending
attosecond science to applications in condensed matter physics. In addition, I
will describe how new ultrafast laser architectures based on optical parametric
chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) are currently pushing the state-of-the-art
in attosecond technology and promise to enable attosecond time-resolved studies
in chemical and solid state targets.
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