Coherent control of attosecond emission from aligned molecules

Abstract

Controlling attosecond electron wave packets and soft X-ray pulses represents a formidable challenge of general implication to many areas of science. A strong laser field interacting with atoms or molecules drives ultrafast intra-atomic/molecular electron wave packets on a subfemtosecond timescale, resulting in the emission of attosecond bursts of extreme-ultraviolet light. Controlling the intra-atomic/molecular electron dynamics enables steering of the attosecond emission. Here, we carry out a coherent control in linear molecules, where the interaction of the laser-driven electron wave packet with the core leads to quantum interferences. We demonstrate that these interferences can be finely controlled by turning the molecular axis relative to the laser polarization, that is, changing the electron recollision angle. The wave-packet coulombic distortion modifies the spectral phase jump measured in the extreme-ultraviolet emission. Our attosecond control of the interference results in attosecond pulse shaping, useful for future applications in ultrafast coherent control of atomic and molecular processes. © 2008 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.