Measuring the quantum state of photoelectrons

• Swedish Research Council

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2020-06384_VR

Electronic coherence and correlation in attosecond photoionization dynamics

The emerging field of attochemistry aims at visualizing and steering chemical reactions with attosecond light pulses. However, our understanding of the ultrafast quantum dynamics induced by the absorption of a high energy attosecond pulse by a molecule is  still very limited. Over the last decade, attosecond photoelectron spectroscopy has been successfully used to investigate atomic photoionization, providing unprecedented information on the role of electron correlations in the ionization dynamics. Unfortunately, the lack of spherical symmetry of molecules and the loss of coherence induced by the coupling between electronic and vibrational degrees freedom makes these measurements much more challenging.  The research project proposed here aims at addressing both problems by combining state-of-the-art attosecond light sources and detectors together with novel photoelectron interferometry schemes. This project will be carried out in the group of Prof. Giuseppe Sansone at Freiburg University, Germany, and the group of Prof. Anne L’Huillier at Lund University. In Freiburg, the combination of high repetition rate attosecond light source together with a reaction microscope will allow investigating electron correlation effects in attosecond photoionization dynamics in the molecular frame. In Lund, a novel interferometric scheme will be used to measure the degree of coherence of electron wave packets, allowing to investigate decoherence processes on the attosecond time scale.