Controlled near-field enhanced electron acceleration from dielectric nanospheres with intense few-cycle laser fields

Collective electron motion in condensed matter typically unfolds on a sub-femtosecond timescale. The well-defined electric field evolution of intense, phase-stable few-cycle laser pulses provides an ideal tool for controlling this motion. The resulting manipulation of local electric fields at nanome...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature physics 2011-08, Vol.7 (8), p.656-662
Main Authors: Zherebtsov, Sergey, Fennel, Thomas, Plenge, Jürgen, Antonsson, Egill, Znakovskaya, Irina, Wirth, Adrian, Herrwerth, Oliver, Süßmann, Frederik, Peltz, Christian, Ahmad, Izhar, Trushin, Sergei A., Pervak, Vladimir, Karsch, Stefan, Vrakking, Marc J. J., Langer, Burkhard, Graf, Christina, Stockman, Mark I., Krausz, Ferenc, Rühl, Eckart, Kling, Matthias F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atomic
Classical and Continuum Physics
Complex Systems
Condensed matter
Condensed Matter Physics
Dielectrics
Electric fields
Electrons
Emissions
Lasers
Mathematical and Computational Physics
Molecular
Nanoelectronics
Nanomaterials
Nanoparticles
Nanostructure
Optical and Plasma Physics
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Semiconductors
Theoretical
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Summary:Collective electron motion in condensed matter typically unfolds on a sub-femtosecond timescale. The well-defined electric field evolution of intense, phase-stable few-cycle laser pulses provides an ideal tool for controlling this motion. The resulting manipulation of local electric fields at nanometre spatial and attosecond temporal scales offers unique spatio-temporal control of ultrafast nonlinear processes at the nanoscale, with important implications for the advancement of nanoelectronics. Here we demonstrate the attosecond control of the collective electron motion and directional emission from isolated dielectric (SiO 2 ) nanoparticles with phase-stabilized few-cycle laser fields. A novel acceleration mechanism leading to the ejection of highly energetic electrons is identified by the comparison of the results to quasi-classical model calculations. The observed lightwave control in nanosized dielectrics has important implications for other material groups, including semiconductors and metals. A demonstration of attosecond control of the motion and directed emission of electrons from individual silica nanoparticles using few-cycle laser fields opens new possibilities to manipulate electronic processes in nanoscale systems.
ISSN:1745-2473
1745-2481
DOI:10.1038/nphys1983