Strong-field-induced attosecond dynamics in SiO2

M Schultze,M Fiess,V Apalkov,F Krausz,A Sommer,S Holzner,M Hofstetter,V.S Yakovlev,R Kienberger,M I Stockman,E M Bothschafter,M Chergui,K Yamagouchi,R De Vivie-Riedle,S Cundiff,A Taylor

doi:10.1051/epjconf/20134102014

Abstract

Striking field-induced changes in the absorption near the Si L-edge of SiO2 exposed to a near-infrared laser field of several V/A delivered by a few-cycle pulse are observed with sub-100 attosecond extreme ultraviolet pulses by means of attosecond transient absorption.

Highlights

Striking field-induced changes in the absorption near the Si L-edge of SiO2 exposed to a near-infrared laser field of several V/Å delivered by a few-cycle pulse are observed with sub-100 attosecond extreme ultraviolet pulses by means of attosecond transient absorption
Understanding the behavior of dielectric materials under the influence of strong electric fields is of fundamental interest, but, unlike in gaseous media, direct access to the ionization dynamics via electron and ion detection is impeded inside a solid
The XUV attosecond pulse absorption of a thin dielectric film irradiated with a waveform-controlled few-cycle NIR laser pulse measured as a function of the delay between the two pulses reveals a sub-cycle build-up of transient absorption bleaching at the SiO2 L-edge absorption and an attosecond response to the oscillating field

Summary

Introduction

Understanding the behavior of dielectric materials under the influence of strong electric fields is of fundamental interest, but, unlike in gaseous media, direct access to the ionization dynamics via electron and ion detection is impeded inside a solid. As the damage threshold of dielectrics increases with decreasing exposure time, ultrashort laser pulses of only a few-cycle duration allow for exposure of dielectrics to electric fields of several V/Å without damage and provide insight into dynamics on ultrashort time scales [1,2]. Using extreme ultraviolet (XUV) attosecond pulses to excite 2p electrons of Si to conduction-band states allows probing the sub-cycle response of the conduction band states to a strong near-infrared laser field

Methods

Results

Conclusion