Anne l'Huillier

Research:

When atoms interact with strong laser fields, high-order harmonics are generated. In the time domain, this radiation consists of ultrashort "attosecond" light pulses with central photon energy in the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) energy domain and duration of the order of 100 as.

Attosecond science consists in generating attosecond pulses and in using them to study ultrafast dynamics. The time scale is that of the electron motion in atoms, molecules or more complex systems. Temporal information can be obtained either by pump/probe techniques, where a pump pulse excites the system, a probe pulse analyzes it, and where the delay between pump and probe is varied; or by phase and amplitude measurements over a large spectral range. 

Attosecond science requires a scientific environment combining at the same time:

• (a) State-of-the-art ultrafast laser technology
• (b) Advanced attosecond engineering
• (c) A strong application program

Our research is attacking all three areas at the same time. Applications demand certain specifications: e.g. single attosecond pulses, high pulse energy, high repetition rate or certain photon energy. These specifications require specific ultrafast laser technology as well as attosecond engineering in order to produce the needed attosecond source. We explore applications in a large variety of areas, from atomic and molecular physics, to surface physics, plasmonics and ultrafast coherent imaging.