DOI: 10.1126/science.1100866. Direct Measurement of Light Waves

10.1126/science.1100866

Crossref journal-article

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Science (221)

Abstract

The electromagnetic field of visible light performs ∼10 15 oscillations per second. Although many instruments are sensitive to the amplitude and frequency (or wavelength) of these oscillations, they cannot access the light field itself. We directly observed how the field built up and disappeared in a short, few-cycle pulse of visible laser light by probing the variation of the field strength with a 250-attosecond electron burst. Our apparatus allows complete characterization of few-cycle waves of visible, ultraviolet, and/or infrared light, thereby providing the possibility for controlled and reproducible synthesis of ultrabroadband light waveforms.

Bibliography

Goulielmakis, E., Uiberacker, M., Kienberger, R., Baltuska, A., Yakovlev, V., Scrinzi, A., Westerwalbesloh, Th., Kleineberg, U., Heinzmann, U., Drescher, M., & Krausz, F. (2004). Direct Measurement of Light Waves. Science, 305(5688), 1267â1269.

Authors 11

E. Goulielmakis (first)
M. Uiberacker (additional)
R. Kienberger (additional)
A. Baltuska (additional)
V. Yakovlev (additional)
A. Scrinzi (additional)
Th. Westerwalbesloh (additional)
U. Kleineberg (additional)
U. Heinzmann (additional)
M. Drescher (additional)
F. Krausz (additional)

References 25 Referenced 601

10.1063/1.1148286
10.1364/OL.23.000792
10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.253004
10.1103/PhysRevLett.78.3282
10.1016/0030-4018(90)90509-R
10.1016/0030-4018(93)90530-I
10.1103/PhysRevLett.73.1243
10.1143/JJAP.34.3566
10.1103/PhysRevLett.81.2894
10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.4748
10.1007/s003400050795
10.1103/PhysRevLett.84.5508
10.1364/OL.25.000856
10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.033402
10.1364/OL.28.002258
M. Y. Shverdin D. R. Walker D. D. Yavuz G. Y. Yin S. E. Harris in OSA Trends in Optics and Photonics Series (TOPS) Vol. 96 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO) (Optical Society of America Washington DC 2004) Postdeadline paper CPDC1.
K. Yamane T. Kito R. Morita M. Yamashita in OSA Trends in Optics and Photonics Series (TOPS) vol. 96 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO) (Optical Society of America Washington DC 2004) Postdeadline paper CPDC2.
10.1126/science.1073866
10.1103/PhysRevLett.89.283903
10.1038/nature01414
10.1038/nature02277
In the limit of |Δ p max | « | p i | the change in the electrons' final kinetic energy is given by Δ W max ≈ [8 W i U p max ] 1/2 where U p max = e 2 E 0 2 /4 m e ω L 2 is the electrons' quiver energy averaged over an optical cycle at the peak of the light pulse.
Increase of the excitation energy ħω xuv tends to reconcile the conflicting requirements of avoiding field ionization and ensuring a high dynamic range.
10.1103/RevModPhys.72.545
We are grateful to B. Ferus for creating the artwork. Sponsored by the fonds zur Förderung der Wissenschafllichen Forschung (Austria grant nos. Y44-PHY P15382 and F016) the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Volkswagenstiftung (Germany) the European ATTO and Ultrashort XUV Pulses for Time-Resolved and Non-Linear Applications networks and an Austrian Programme for Advanced Research and Technology fellowship to R.K. from the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Dates

Type	When
Created	20 years, 11 months ago (Aug. 26, 2004, 5:14 p.m.)
Deposited	1 year, 7 months ago (Jan. 9, 2024, 10:22 p.m.)
Indexed	5 days, 22 hours ago (Aug. 19, 2025, 6:29 a.m.)
Issued	20 years, 11 months ago (Aug. 27, 2004)
Published	20 years, 11 months ago (Aug. 27, 2004)
Published Print	20 years, 11 months ago (Aug. 27, 2004)

Funders 0

None

BibTeX

@article{Goulielmakis_2004, title={Direct Measurement of Light Waves}, volume={305}, ISSN={1095-9203}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1100866}, DOI={10.1126/science.1100866}, number={5688}, journal={Science}, publisher={American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)}, author={Goulielmakis, E. and Uiberacker, M. and Kienberger, R. and Baltuska, A. and Yakovlev, V. and Scrinzi, A. and Westerwalbesloh, Th. and Kleineberg, U. and Heinzmann, U. and Drescher, M. and Krausz, F.}, year={2004}, month=aug, pages={1267–1269} }

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