ATTOTECH · Attosecond Technology
FP6 — Marie Curie Actions (Human Resources and Mobility)
- Duration
- 2006-11-01 → 2007-10-31
- EU contribution
- €84,378
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- EIF
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Results in brief
Final Activity Report Summary - ATTOTECH (Attosecond Technology)
The aim of the project was to achieve significant progress on the control and the versatility of attosecond pulse sources. On the one hand, it was expected to generate tuneable attosecond pulses, energy and duration wise, on the other hand to get additional control on the structure of trains of attosecond pulses. Towards the first goal, we envisioned using broadband XUV multilayer mirrors. We made some significant improvements on the attosecond source in Lund to reach higher central frequency pulses, up to 70eV. This gave us the tools to better characterize the group delay dispersion of some XUV multilayer mirrors manufactured in Institut d'Optique in Orsay. The energy range of the data collected increased compared to the previous campaign. Besides a source of tuneable broadband attosecond pulses was developed and characterised. It delivers trains of pulses as short as 130 as, as a mean value, which constitutes the shortest train type source of attosecond pulse reported to our knowledge. In addition, this led to the creation of a spinoff company, Attotech HB which commercialises a kHz pulse valve. The first customers mainly come from the attosecond community. But some customers use these valves for molecular alignment as well, and contacts are taken with some other research fields. This confirms the broad interest in the technological developments carried out to achieve this task. The second point was to tailor the train of attosecond pulses itself, ie, find ways to control on demand the number and spacing of the pulses going from a train down to a single pulse. In collaboration with ETH in Zurich, an experimental setup combining a post compression stage in a filament and a two-colours scheme for the generation of high harmonics has been set on a kHz, carrier envelope phase stabilised laser system. Preliminary experimental results not fully analysed yet seem to show the potential of this technique to achieve the goal.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
To temporally probe matter, a triggering device faster than the movements to be resolved is required. For instance, in order to access electronic movements in atoms, this is the attosecond timescale (as).Generating such short probes is extremely challenging, but the expected applications are striking and at the cutting-edge of science, ranging from atomic and molecular physics to surface science, material science The only known solution to this issue is the use of High Harmonic Generation in gases, which h as been used recently to synthesize trains of 170 as-long pulses or alternatively single 250 as pulses.Nevertheless both solutions lack versatility and tunability, preventing their use straight away for applications. The project objectives are- to tailor each attosecond pulse in a train, and- to tailor the whole train. The first task is aimed at getting some agility and a control on the pulse shape, as well as on decreasing the pulse duration below 100 as.We propose to use recently-designed multilayer mirrors in the UV-XUV range. The second task is aimed at gaining a full control on the pulses within the train, and should eventually end with the generation of a control number of attosecond pulses, or even single pulses on demand.It will be carried out merging several techniques that have been demonstrated recently, namely compression through filamentation in a gas, HHG with a two-colour field, and polarization gating of HHG. Both objectives will require some upgrade of the available laser. In particular, we will set a control of its carrier envelope phase.This project comes within the context of a high demand of controlled attosecond pulses. It constitutes an exciting and beneficial training for the applicant in a highly competitive laboratory.He will benefit from the training experience of the host and will develop his experimental and personal skills needed to become a scientist in ultra-fast science in Europe.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- LUNDS UNIVERSITET · LUNDCoordinatorSweden
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union