Attosecond coherent electron motion in Auger-Meitner decay

Siqi Li, Taran Driver, Philipp Rosenberger, Elio G. Champenois, Joseph Duris, Andre Al-Haddad, Vitali Averbukh, Jonathan C.T. Barnard, Nora Berrah, Christoph Bostedt, Philip H. Bucksbaum, Ryan N. Coffee, Louis F. DiMauro, Li Fang, Douglas Garratt, Averell Gatton, Zhaoheng Guo, Gregor Hartmann, Daniel Haxton, Wolfram HelmlZhirong Huang, Aaron C. LaForge, Andrei Kamalov, Jonas Knurr, Ming Fu Lin, Alberto A. Lutman, James P. MacArthur, Jon P. Marangos, Megan Nantel, Adi Natan, Razib Obaid, Jordan T. O'Neal, Niranjan H. Shivaram, Aviad Schori, Peter Walter, Anna Li Wang, Thomas J.A. Wolf, Zhen Zhang, Matthias F. Kling, Agostino Marinelli, James P. Cryan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

52 Scopus citations

Abstract

In quantum systems, coherent superpositions of electronic states evolve on ultrafast time scales (few femtoseconds to attoseconds; 1 attosecond = 0.001 femtoseconds = 10-18 seconds), leading to a time-dependent charge density. Here we performed time-resolved measurements using attosecond soft x-ray pulses produced by a free-electron laser, to track the evolution of a coherent core-hole excitation in nitric oxide. Using an additional circularly polarized infrared laser pulse, we created a clock to time-resolve the electron dynamics and demonstrated control of the coherent electron motion by tuning the photon energy of the x-ray pulse. Core-excited states offer a fundamental test bed for studying coherent electron dynamics in highly excited and strongly correlated matter.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)285-290
Number of pages6
JournalScience
Volume375
Issue number6578
DOIs
StatePublished - 21 Jan 2022
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works

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