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. 2008 Jun 20;320(5883):1614-7.
doi: 10.1126/science.1157846.

Single-cycle nonlinear optics

E Goulielmakis  1 , M Schultze, M Hofstetter, V S Yakovlev, J Gagnon, M Uiberacker, A L Aquila, E M Gullikson, D T Attwood, R Kienberger, F Krausz, U Kleineberg
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Free article

Single-cycle nonlinear optics

E Goulielmakis et al. Science. .
Free article

Abstract

Nonlinear optics plays a central role in the advancement of optical science and laser-based technologies. We report on the confinement of the nonlinear interaction of light with matter to a single wave cycle and demonstrate its utility for time-resolved and strong-field science. The electric field of 3.3-femtosecond, 0.72-micron laser pulses with a controlled and measured waveform ionizes atoms near the crests of the central wave cycle, with ionization being virtually switched off outside this interval. Isolated sub-100-attosecond pulses of extreme ultraviolet light (photon energy approximately 80 electron volts), containing approximately 0.5 nanojoule of energy, emerge from the interaction with a conversion efficiency of approximately 10(-6). These tools enable the study of the precision control of electron motion with light fields and electron-electron interactions with a resolution approaching the atomic unit of time ( approximately 24 attoseconds).

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