Quantum Optics with Single Optical Cycles

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In recent years technologies have been developed to generate pulses shorter than five femtoseconds in duration, thus consisting of less than two optical cycles in full-width half-maximum of the pulse. Such pulses are generally referred to as attosecond pulses, and the ability to produce them has created a new field of attosecond science. The present experimental research program will investigate a new approach for attosecond science and clarify some important questions underlying attosecond physics. Tailored single optical cycles will be used for analyzing interference phenomena in photoelectron spectra. The dependence of the interference patterns on the absolute phase of the few-cycle pulses will make it possible to infer the dynamics of electronic transitions. The technique will be developed using alkali atoms, but is expected to be applicable to molecules, too. There the dynamics of electronic transitions has a major impact on molecular reactions. The broader impact of the program involves the training of students as well as applications to other fields.