Attosecond dynamics in complex systems

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Investigation of physical processes occurring on natural time and length scales is one of the greatest challenges in science and is the focus of my research program. Electrons that initiate bond breaking and bond formation processes in chemistry and biology interact with each other on attosecond time scale. Imaging electrons enables control of photochemical processes like energy conversion and development of molecular imaging techniques than can lead to new diagnostic tools for early disease detection and monitoring. The long-term goal of my research programs is to take snap shots of correlated and collective dynamics of electrons in complex systems with attosecond temporal precision. We will use state-of-the-art laser technology to sub-divide a light pulse and produce shorter bursts of light whose duration is comparable to electron motion and use them to track electrons in complex molecules - a high speed burst mode photography. Current research in attosecond science is mostly limited to atoms and simple molecules. By extending our research to complex systems where multi-electron dynamics and collective processes start to dominate our research will unravel new phenomena and test and validate the current theoretical tools. Using the same laser technology we can sub-divide the light wavelength and confine light to nanometer dimensions in solids and induce material modifications. Our goal is to bring attosecond science into the realm of solids by exploiting the similarity of the interaction of wide band gap materials like glasses and gas phase molecules with intense light pulses. Our research will enable control and manipulation of material properties with light on nanometer precision leading to the development of novel embedded photonic devices.