Two-Photon Ionization of He through a Superposition of Higher Harmonics

The ion microscope as a tool for quantitative measurements in the extreme ultraviolet

We demonstrate a tool for quantitative measurements in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectral region measuring spatially resolved atomic ionization products at the focus of an EUV beam. The ionizing radiation is a comb of the 11(th)-15(th) harmonics of a Ti:Sapphire femtosecond laser beam produced in a Xenon gas jet. The spatial ion distribution at the focus of the harmonics is recorded using an ion microscope. Spatially resolved single- and two-photon ionization products of Argon and Helium are observed. From such ion distributions single- and two-photon generalized cross sections can be extracted by a self-calibrating method. The observation of spatially resolved two-EUV-photon ionization constitutes an initial step towards future single-shot temporal characterization of attosecond pulses.

Design and test of a broadband split-and-delay unit for attosecond XUV-XUV pump-probe experiments

We present the design of a split-and-delay unit for the production of two delayed replicas of an incident extreme ultraviolet (XUV) pulse. The device features a single grazing incidence reflection in combination with attenuation of remaining infrared light co-propagating with the XUV beam, offering a high throughput without the need of introducing additional optics that would further decrease the XUV flux. To achieve the required spatial and temporal stabilities, the device is controlled by two PID-controllers monitoring the delay and the beam pointing using an optical reference laser beam, making collimation of the beam by additional optics unnecessary. Finally, we demonstrate the stability of the split-and-delay unit by performing all-reflective autocorrelation measurements on broadband few-cycle laser pulses.

Time-resolved EUV photoelectron spectroscopy of dissociating I2 by laser harmonics at 80 nm

Generation of single-order laser harmonics in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and the application to the time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy of I(2) are demonstrated. The EUV pulses at 80 nm were generated from Kr as the 5th order harmonics of intense 400 nm laser pulses and then separated from other harmonic orders by a thin indium foil. The pump-probe photoelectron spectroscopy of I(2) in the B (3)Π(0(u)(+)) and B" (1)Π(1(u)) states excited by visible laser pulses at 490 nm showed a rapid increase in the yield of atomic iodine (~400 fs), reflecting the dissociation dynamics evolving simultaneously in the two excited states.

Nonlinear atomic response to intense ultrashort x rays

The nonlinear absorption mechanisms of neon atoms to intense, femtosecond kilovolt x rays are investigated. The production of Ne(9+) is observed at x-ray frequencies below the Ne(8+), 1s(2) absorption edge and demonstrates a clear quadratic dependence on fluence. Theoretical analysis shows that the production is a combination of the two-photon ionization of Ne(8+) ground state and a high-order sequential process involving single-photon production and ionization of transient excited states on a time scale faster than the Auger decay. We find that the nonlinear direct two-photon ionization cross section is orders of magnitude higher than expected from previous calculations.

Tracking autoionizing-wave-packet dynamics at the 1-fs temporal scale

We present time-resolved studies and Fourier transform spectroscopy of inner-shell excited states undergoing Auger decay and doubly excited autoionizing states, utilizing coherent extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) radiation continua. Series of states spanning a range of ∼4  eV are excited simultaneously. An XUV probe pulse tracks the oscillatory and decaying evolution of the formed wave packet. The Fourier transform of the measured trace reproduces the spectrum of the series. The present work paves the way for ultrabroadband XUV spectroscopy and studies of ultrafast dynamics in all states of matter.

Two-photon inner-shell ionization in the extreme ultraviolet

We have observed the simultaneous inner-shell absorption of two extreme-ultraviolet photons by a Xe atom in an experiment performed at the short-wavelength free electron laser facility FLASH. Photoelectron spectroscopy permitted us to unambiguously identify a feature resulting from the ionization of a single electron of the 4d subshell of Xe by two photons each of energy (93±1)  eV. The feature's intensity has a quadratic dependence on the pulse energy. The results are discussed and interpreted within the framework of recent results of ion spectroscopy experiments of Xe obtained at ultrahigh irradiance in the extreme-ultraviolet regime.

Higher-order harmonic generation from fullerene by means of the plasma harmonic method

We demonstrate, for the first time, high-order harmonic generation from C60 by an intense femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser. Laser-produced plasmas from C60-rich epoxy and C60 films were used as the nonlinear media. Harmonics up to the 19th order were observed. The harmonic yield from fullerene-rich plasma is about 25 times larger compared with those produced from a bulk carbon target. Structural studies of plasma debris confirm the presence and integrity of fullerenes within the plasma plume, indicating fullerenes as the source of high-order harmonics.

Heterodyne mixing of laser fields for temporal gating of high-order harmonic generation

The concept of heterodyne mixing of laser fields is theoretically applied to the process of high-harmonic generation to enhance and modulate the kinetic energy of the active electron on subcycle time scales. A very small amount of intensity in the heterodyne field creates a significant modification of the electron kinetic energy, due to its amplification by the strong fundamental field in the kinetic-energy term, in which the heterodyne mixing occurs. Quantum calculations are carried out to verify the predictions of the classical results, demonstrating very good qualitative and quantitative agreement. Applications of the heterodyne-mixing concept are the extension of the harmonic cutoff to higher photon energies and the temporal gating of attosecond pulse production.

Hydrogen atom interacting with a multifrequency laser field: ionization and harmonic generation

The response of a hydrogen atom submitted to a multiharmonic laser field is studied. The relative phases of the harmonic components are critical both for atomic ionization and high-order harmonic generation. In the phase-locked case under adequate interference conditions, the inhibition of ionization is followed by an increase of the intensities of the generated harmonics.

Second order autocorrelation of an XUV attosecond pulse train

Temporal widths of an attosecond (asec) XUV radiation pulse train, formed by the superposition of higher order harmonics, have been recently determined utilizing a 2nd order autocorrelation measurement. An assessment of the validity of the approach, for the broadband XUV radiation of asec pulses, is implemented through ab initio calculations modeling the spectral and temporal response of the two-XUV-photon He ionization detector employed. The measured width of the asec bursts is discussed in terms of the spectral phases of the individual harmonics, as well as in terms of the spatially modulated temporal width of the radiation, and is found in reasonable agreement with the expected duration.

Production of doubly charged helium ions by two-photon absorption of an intense sub-10-fs soft x-ray pulse at 42 eV photon energy

We report on the observation of doubly charged helium ions produced by a nonlinear interaction between a helium atom and photons with a photon energy of 42 eV which are generated with the 27th harmonic of a femtosecond pulse from a Ti:sapphire laser. The number of ions is proportional to the square of the intensity of the 27th harmonic pulse, and thus two-photon double ionization should be dominantly induced as compared with other nonlinear processes accompanying sequential ionization via a singly charged ion. This phenomenon is utilized to measure the pulse duration of the 27th harmonic pulse by using an autocorrelation technique, for the first time to our knowledge, and as a result a duration of 8 fs is found.

Direct observation of attosecond light bunching

Temporal probing of a number of fundamental dynamical processes requires intense pulses at femtosecond or even attosecond (1 as = 10(-18) s) timescales. A frequency 'comb' of extreme-ultraviolet odd harmonics can easily be generated in the interaction of subpicosecond laser pulses with rare gases: if the spectral components within this comb possess an appropriate phase relationship to one another, their Fourier synthesis results in an attosecond pulse train. Laser pulses spanning many optical cycles have been used for the production of such light bunching, but in the limit of few-cycle pulses the same process produces isolated attosecond bursts. If these bursts are intense enough to induce a nonlinear process in a target system, they can be used for subfemtosecond pump-probe studies of ultrafast processes. To date, all methods for the quantitative investigation of attosecond light localization and ultrafast dynamics rely on modelling of the cross-correlation process between the extreme-ultraviolet pulses and the fundamental laser field used in their generation. Here we report the direct determination of the temporal characteristics of pulses in the subfemtosecond regime, by measuring the second-order autocorrelation trace of a train of attosecond pulses. The method exhibits distinct capabilities for the characterization and utilization of attosecond pulses for a host of applications in attoscience.

Frequency-resolved optical gating of femtosecond pulses in the extreme ultraviolet

Femtosecond extreme ultraviolet (XUV) pulses were fully characterized for the first time by using a newly developed cross-correlation frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) technique in the XUV region. This method utilizes laser-assisted two-photon ionization as a nonlinear optical process. Near-infrared pulses characterized by FROG were used as a reference. The amplitude and phase of XUV pulses with a pulse duration of 10 fs were found to be in good agreement with a model analysis, taking into account phase modulation by ionization, self-phase modulation, and the atomic dipole phase.