Skip to main content
  • Submit
  • About
    • Editorial Board
    • PNAS Staff
    • FAQ
    • Accessibility Statement
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Site Map
  • Contact
  • Journal Club
  • Subscribe
    • Subscription Rates
    • Subscriptions FAQ
    • Open Access
    • Recommend PNAS to Your Librarian
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Special Feature Articles - Most Recent
    • Special Features
    • Colloquia
    • Collected Articles
    • PNAS Classics
    • List of Issues
  • Front Matter
  • News
    • For the Press
    • This Week In PNAS
    • PNAS in the News
  • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Information for Authors
    • Editorial and Journal Policies
    • Submission Procedures
    • Fees and Licenses
  • Submit
  • About
    • Editorial Board
    • PNAS Staff
    • FAQ
    • Accessibility Statement
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Site Map
  • Contact
  • Journal Club
  • Subscribe
    • Subscription Rates
    • Subscriptions FAQ
    • Open Access
    • Recommend PNAS to Your Librarian

User menu

  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Home
Home

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Special Feature Articles - Most Recent
    • Special Features
    • Colloquia
    • Collected Articles
    • PNAS Classics
    • List of Issues
  • Front Matter
  • News
    • For the Press
    • This Week In PNAS
    • PNAS in the News
  • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Information for Authors
    • Editorial and Journal Policies
    • Submission Procedures
    • Fees and Licenses

New Research In

Physical Sciences

Featured Portals

  • Physics
  • Chemistry
  • Sustainability Science

Articles by Topic

  • Applied Mathematics
  • Applied Physical Sciences
  • Astronomy
  • Computer Sciences
  • Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
  • Engineering
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Mathematics
  • Statistics

Social Sciences

Featured Portals

  • Anthropology
  • Sustainability Science

Articles by Topic

  • Economic Sciences
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Political Sciences
  • Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
  • Social Sciences

Biological Sciences

Featured Portals

  • Sustainability Science

Articles by Topic

  • Agricultural Sciences
  • Anthropology
  • Applied Biological Sciences
  • Biochemistry
  • Biophysics and Computational Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Developmental Biology
  • Ecology
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Evolution
  • Genetics
  • Immunology and Inflammation
  • Medical Sciences
  • Microbiology
  • Neuroscience
  • Pharmacology
  • Physiology
  • Plant Biology
  • Population Biology
  • Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
  • Sustainability Science
  • Systems Biology
Research Article

Generation of bright isolated attosecond soft X-ray pulses driven by multicycle midinfrared lasers

Ming-Chang Chen, Christopher Mancuso, Carlos Hernández-García, Franklin Dollar, Ben Galloway, Dimitar Popmintchev, Pei-Chi Huang, Barry Walker, Luis Plaja, Agnieszka A. Jaroń-Becker, Andreas Becker, Margaret M. Murnane, Henry C. Kapteyn, and Tenio Popmintchev
PNAS first published May 21, 2014; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1407421111
Ming-Chang Chen
aJILA and Department of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0440;
bInstitute of Photonics Technologies, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Christopher Mancuso
aJILA and Department of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0440;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Carlos Hernández-García
aJILA and Department of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0440;
cGrupo de Investigación en Óptica Extrema, Universidad de Salamanca, E-37008 Salamanca, Spain; and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Franklin Dollar
aJILA and Department of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0440;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Ben Galloway
aJILA and Department of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0440;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Dimitar Popmintchev
aJILA and Department of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0440;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Pei-Chi Huang
bInstitute of Photonics Technologies, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Barry Walker
dDepartment of Physics, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Luis Plaja
cGrupo de Investigación en Óptica Extrema, Universidad de Salamanca, E-37008 Salamanca, Spain; and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Agnieszka A. Jaroń-Becker
aJILA and Department of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0440;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Andreas Becker
aJILA and Department of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0440;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Margaret M. Murnane
aJILA and Department of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0440;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: murnane@jila.colorado.edu Kapteyn@jila.colorado.edu
Henry C. Kapteyn
aJILA and Department of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0440;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: murnane@jila.colorado.edu Kapteyn@jila.colorado.edu
Tenio Popmintchev
aJILA and Department of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0440;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  1. Contributed by Margaret M. Murnane, April 24, 2014 (sent for review April 3, 2014)

  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Significance

Attosecond pulses driven by femtosecond lasers make it possible to capture the fastest electron dynamics in molecules and materials. To date, attosecond pulses driven by widely available 800-nm lasers were limited to the extreme UV region of the spectrum, which restricted the range of materials, liquid, and molecular systems that could be explored because of the limited penetrating power. Our recent work showed that longer-wavelength midinfrared driving lasers at wavelengths from 1 to 4 µm are optimal for generating shorter-wavelength, bright, soft X-ray beams. Here we show that longer-pulse-duration midinfrared lasers are also optimal for generating shorter-pulse-duration, attosecond, soft X-rays. This is an unexpected and beautiful convergence of physics: bright, soft X-ray high harmonics naturally emerge as isolated attosecond bursts.

Abstract

High harmonic generation driven by femtosecond lasers makes it possible to capture the fastest dynamics in molecules and materials. However, to date the shortest subfemtosecond (attosecond, 10−18 s) pulses have been produced only in the extreme UV region of the spectrum below 100 eV, which limits the range of materials and molecular systems that can be explored. Here we experimentally demonstrate a remarkable convergence of physics: when midinfrared lasers are used to drive high harmonic generation, the conditions for optimal bright, soft X-ray generation naturally coincide with the generation of isolated attosecond pulses. The temporal window over which phase matching occurs shrinks rapidly with increasing driving laser wavelength, to the extent that bright isolated attosecond pulses are the norm for 2-µm driving lasers. Harnessing this realization, we experimentally demonstrate the generation of isolated soft X-ray attosecond pulses at photon energies up to 180 eV for the first time, to our knowledge, with a transform limit of 35 attoseconds (as), and a predicted linear chirp of 300 as. Most surprisingly, advanced theory shows that in contrast with as pulse generation in the extreme UV, long-duration, 10-cycle, driving laser pulses are required to generate isolated soft X-ray bursts efficiently, to mitigate group velocity walk-off between the laser and the X-ray fields that otherwise limit the conversion efficiency. Our work demonstrates a clear and straightforward approach for robustly generating bright isolated attosecond pulses of electromagnetic radiation throughout the soft X-ray region of the spectrum.

  • ultrafast
  • coherent
  • nonlinear optics

Footnotes

  • ↵1To whom correspondence may be addressed. E-mail: murnane{at}jila.colorado.edu or Kapteyn{at}jila.colorado.edu.
  • Author contributions: M.-C.C., C.M., M.M.M., and H.C.K. designed research; M.-C.C., C.M., C.H.-G., F.D., B.G., D.P., P.-C.H., B.W., L.P., A.A.J.-B., A.B., M.M.M., H.C.K., and T.P. performed research; M.M.M. and H.C.K. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; M.-C.C., C.M., C.H.-G., F.D., B.G., A.A.J.-B., A.B., M.M.M., H.C.K., and T.P. analyzed data; and M.-C.C., C.M., C.H.-G., F.D., L.P., A.A.J.-B., A.B., M.M.M., H.C.K., and T.P. wrote the paper.

  • The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Freely available online through the PNAS open access option.

Next
Back to top
Article Alerts
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on PNAS.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Generation of bright isolated attosecond soft X-ray pulses driven by multicycle midinfrared lasers
(Your Name) has sent you a message from PNAS
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the PNAS web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Bright isolated attosecond soft X-ray pulses
Ming-Chang Chen, Christopher Mancuso, Carlos Hernández-García, Franklin Dollar, Ben Galloway, Dimitar Popmintchev, Pei-Chi Huang, Barry Walker, Luis Plaja, Agnieszka A. Jaroń-Becker, Andreas Becker, Margaret M. Murnane, Henry C. Kapteyn, Tenio Popmintchev
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences May 2014, 201407421; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1407421111

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Request Permissions
Share
Bright isolated attosecond soft X-ray pulses
Ming-Chang Chen, Christopher Mancuso, Carlos Hernández-García, Franklin Dollar, Ben Galloway, Dimitar Popmintchev, Pei-Chi Huang, Barry Walker, Luis Plaja, Agnieszka A. Jaroń-Becker, Andreas Becker, Margaret M. Murnane, Henry C. Kapteyn, Tenio Popmintchev
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences May 2014, 201407421; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1407421111
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Mendeley logo Mendeley
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: 118 (8)
Current Issue

Submit

Sign up for Article Alerts

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

You May Also be Interested in

Surgeons hands during surgery
Inner Workings: Advances in infectious disease treatment promise to expand the pool of donor organs
Despite myriad challenges, clinicians see room for progress.
Image credit: Shutterstock/David Tadevosian.
Setting sun over a sun-baked dirt landscape
Core Concept: Popular integrated assessment climate policy models have key caveats
Better explicating the strengths and shortcomings of these models will help refine projections and improve transparency in the years ahead.
Image credit: Witsawat.S.
Double helix
Journal Club: Noncoding DNA shown to underlie function, cause limb malformations
Using CRISPR, researchers showed that a region some used to label “junk DNA” has a major role in a rare genetic disorder.
Image credit: Nathan Devery.
Steamboat Geyser eruption.
Eruption of Steamboat Geyser
Mara Reed and Michael Manga explore why Yellowstone's Steamboat Geyser resumed erupting in 2018.
Listen
Past PodcastsSubscribe
Multi-color molecular model
Enzymatic breakdown of PET plastic
A study demonstrates how two enzymes—MHETase and PETase—work synergistically to depolymerize the plastic pollutant PET.
Image credit: Aaron McGeehan (artist).

Similar Articles

Site Logo
Powered by HighWire
  • Submit Manuscript
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS Feeds
  • Email Alerts

Articles

  • Current Issue
  • Special Feature Articles – Most Recent
  • List of Issues

PNAS Portals

  • Anthropology
  • Chemistry
  • Classics
  • Front Matter
  • Physics
  • Sustainability Science
  • Teaching Resources

Information

  • Authors
  • Editorial Board
  • Reviewers
  • Librarians
  • Press
  • Site Map
  • PNAS Updates

Feedback    Privacy/Legal

Copyright © 2021 National Academy of Sciences. Online ISSN 1091-6490