Attosecond real-time observation of electron tunnelling in atoms

M. Uiberacker; Th. Uphues; M. Schultze; A. J. Verhoef; V. Yakovlev; M. F. Kling; J. Rauschenberger; N. M. Kabachnik; M. Lezius; K. L. Kompa; H.-G. Muller; M. J. J. Vrakking; S. Hendel; U. Kleineberg; U. Heinzmann; M. Drescher; F. Krausz

doi:10.1038/nature05648

Attosecond real-time observation of electron tunnelling in atoms

M. Uiberacker^*, Th. Uphues, M. Schultze, A. J. Verhoef, V. Yakovlev, M. F. Kling, J. Rauschenberger, N. M. Kabachnik, M. Lezius, K. L. Kompa, H.-G. Muller, M. J. J. Vrakking, S. Hendel, U. Kleineberg, U. Heinzmann, M. Drescher, F. Krausz^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Atoms exposed to intense light lose one or more electrons and become ions. In strong fields, the process is predicted to occur via tunnelling through the binding potential that is suppressed by the light field near the peaks of its oscillations. Here we report the real-time observation of this most elementary step in strong-field interactions: light-induced electron tunnelling. The process is found to deplete atomic bound states in sharp steps lasting several hundred attoseconds. This suggests a new technique, attosecond tunnelling, for probing short-lived, transient states of atoms or molecules with high temporal resolution. The utility of attosecond tunnelling is demonstrated by capturing multi-electron excitation (shake-up) and relaxation (cascaded Auger decay) processes with subfemtosecond resolution.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	627-632
Journal	Nature
Volume	446
Issue number	7136
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05648
Publication status	Published - 5 Apr 2007
Externally published	Yes

Fields of Expertise

Advanced Materials Science

Access to Document

10.1038/nature05648

Cite this

Uiberacker, M., Uphues, T., Schultze, M., Verhoef, A. J., Yakovlev, V., Kling, M. F., Rauschenberger, J., Kabachnik, N. M., Lezius, M., Kompa, K. L., Muller, H-G., Vrakking, M. J. J., Hendel, S., Kleineberg, U., Heinzmann, U., Drescher, M., & Krausz, F. (2007). Attosecond real-time observation of electron tunnelling in atoms. Nature , 446(7136), 627-632. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05648

Uiberacker, M, Uphues, T, Schultze, M, Verhoef, AJ, Yakovlev, V, Kling, MF, Rauschenberger, J, Kabachnik, NM, Lezius, M, Kompa, KL, Muller, H-G, Vrakking, MJJ, Hendel, S, Kleineberg, U, Heinzmann, U, Drescher, M & Krausz, F 2007, 'Attosecond real-time observation of electron tunnelling in atoms', Nature , vol. 446, no. 7136, pp. 627-632. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05648

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title = "Attosecond real-time observation of electron tunnelling in atoms",

abstract = "Atoms exposed to intense light lose one or more electrons and become ions. In strong fields, the process is predicted to occur via tunnelling through the binding potential that is suppressed by the light field near the peaks of its oscillations. Here we report the real-time observation of this most elementary step in strong-field interactions: light-induced electron tunnelling. The process is found to deplete atomic bound states in sharp steps lasting several hundred attoseconds. This suggests a new technique, attosecond tunnelling, for probing short-lived, transient states of atoms or molecules with high temporal resolution. The utility of attosecond tunnelling is demonstrated by capturing multi-electron excitation (shake-up) and relaxation (cascaded Auger decay) processes with subfemtosecond resolution.",

author = "M. Uiberacker and Th. Uphues and M. Schultze and Verhoef, {A. J.} and V. Yakovlev and Kling, {M. F.} and J. Rauschenberger and Kabachnik, {N. M.} and M. Lezius and Kompa, {K. L.} and H.-G. Muller and Vrakking, {M. J. J.} and S. Hendel and U. Kleineberg and U. Heinzmann and M. Drescher and F. Krausz",

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AU - Uiberacker, M.

AU - Uphues, Th.

AU - Schultze, M.

AU - Verhoef, A. J.

AU - Yakovlev, V.

AU - Kling, M. F.

AU - Rauschenberger, J.

AU - Kabachnik, N. M.

AU - Lezius, M.

AU - Kompa, K. L.

AU - Muller, H.-G.

AU - Vrakking, M. J. J.

AU - Hendel, S.

AU - Kleineberg, U.

AU - Heinzmann, U.

AU - Drescher, M.

AU - Krausz, F.

PY - 2007/4/5

Y1 - 2007/4/5

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AB - Atoms exposed to intense light lose one or more electrons and become ions. In strong fields, the process is predicted to occur via tunnelling through the binding potential that is suppressed by the light field near the peaks of its oscillations. Here we report the real-time observation of this most elementary step in strong-field interactions: light-induced electron tunnelling. The process is found to deplete atomic bound states in sharp steps lasting several hundred attoseconds. This suggests a new technique, attosecond tunnelling, for probing short-lived, transient states of atoms or molecules with high temporal resolution. The utility of attosecond tunnelling is demonstrated by capturing multi-electron excitation (shake-up) and relaxation (cascaded Auger decay) processes with subfemtosecond resolution.

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