Breakthrough moves toward real-time observation of electron dynamics in atoms and molecules

Quebec City, QC – Researchers at INRS University say they have obtained groundbreaking information on the electronic structure of atoms and molecules by observing electronic correlations using the method of high harmonic generation (HHG). To achieve this, they used very short flashes of light produced by a technology developed at the university’s Advanced Laser Light Source (ALLS).

Made by a team of researchers from the Energy, Materials, and Telecommunications Center of INRS and the National Research Council Canada/University of Ottawa Joint Attosecond Science Laboratory, the scientific breakthrough opens new opportunities for investigating electron dynamics on the timescale of the attosecond (0.000,000,000,000,000,001 second).

Researchers used a new laser source developed at ALLS by Professor François Légaré’s team from the Energy, Materials, and Telecommunications Center in collaboration with colleagues from INRS University, NRC Canada, and the University of Ottawa. The laser source proved to be the right tool for HHG from atoms and molecules. The HHG spectra obtained through interaction of the laser source with xenon atoms provide information on electronic correlations by highlighting the giant resonance of xenon. In addition, results obtained at ALLS show that the laser source is ideal for developing a soft X-ray beamline delivering ultrafast x-ray laser pulses down to the nanometer wavelength.

Built on national scientific collaboration, this study was conducted at ALLS by researchers Bruno E. Schmidt, Jean-Claude Kieffer, and François Légaré of the Energy, Materials, and Telecommunications Center of INRS and by Andrew D. Shiner, Carlos Trallero-Herrero, Hans J Wörner, Serguei Patchkovskii, Paul B Corkum, and David M Villeneuve of the NRC Canada/University of Ottawa Joint Attosecond Science Laboratory. The project was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Fonds québécois de recherche sur la nature et les technologies, the Canadian Institute for Photonic Innovations, and the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

Research results have been published in Nature Physics. The article is available online.