High-Repetition-Rate Attosecond Source for Coincidence Spectroscopy

• Subject Area: Optics, Quantum Optics and Physics of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas
• Term: Funded in 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 389649879

The High-Repetition Rate Attosecond Source will be crucial for the development of a research program in attosecond and strong field science at the Physics Department of the University of Freiburg. In particular, this source will enable coincidence spectroscopy experiments on small quantum systems. The Attosecond Source will be used to drive the photoelectron/photoion coincidence spectrometer (Reaction Microscope) that will be installed in the new laboratory at the University of Freiburg.Attosecond sources with a repetition-rate of a few kHz are not well-suited for coincidence photoelectron/photoion spectroscopy, because they impose extremely long acquisition times (up to several days and even weeks, depending on the characteristics of the specific experiment, such as central photon energy, density of the target, number of the ionization channels, cross-sections, etc.) that challenge the long-term stability of the experimental setup. In general, coincidence spectroscopy in atoms and molecules strongly benefits from the availability of high-repetition rate sources (≥50 kHz), which can significantly reduce the acquisition times. Using the equipment of this project, we will investigate correlated electron-nuclear dynamics in small molecules and attosecond time delays in the multi-color photoionization of atoms. Both research topics represent two important research directions in the field of attosecond science.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: High-Repetition-Rate Attosecond Source for Coincidence Spectroscopy
• Instrumentation Group: 5700 Festkörper-Laser
• Applicant Institution: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
• Leader: Professor Dr. Giuseppe Sansone