Ångström Lecture 2023: Physics at attosecond time scale Study of ultra-fast dynamics

Extreme ultraviolet light sources based on high-order harmonic generation in gases are now used in many areas of science. The radiation consists of a train of extremely short light pulses, in the 100-attosecond range, allowing for outstanding temporal resolution. Attosecond light pulses have enabled the study of extremely fast processes occurring at the atomic scale, such as photoionization. Since Einstein’s Nobel prize winning work in 1905, atomic photoionization was regarded as an instantaneous process. Using attosecond electron interferometry, we can now measure the incredibly small time delay in photoionization, a concept which was introduced theoretically by E. Wigner in 1955.

In the 2023 Ångström Lecture Professor L’Huillier will give a short historical perspective on this field of research as well as an introduction to the physics of and with attosecond pulses.