Abstract
Laser spectroscopy and chronoscopy permit precision measurement of quantum transitions and captures atomic-scale dynamics, respectively. Frequency- and time-domain metrology ranks among the supreme laser disciplines in fundamental science. For decades, these fields evolved independently, without interaction and synergy between them. This has changed profoundly with controlling the position of the equidistant frequency spikes of a mode-locked laser oscillator. By the self-referencing technique invented by Theodor Hänsch, the comb can be coherently linked to microwaves and used for precision measurements of energy differences between quantum states. The resultant optical frequency synthesis has revolutionized precision spectroscopy. Locking the comb lines to the resonator round-trip frequency by the same approach has given rise to laser pulses with controlled field oscillations. This article reviews, from a personal perspective, how the bridge between frequency- and time-resolved metrology emerged on the turn of the millennium and how synthesized several-cycle laser fields have been instrumental in establishing the basic tools and techniques for attosecond science.
Dedicated to the 75th birthday of Theodor W. Hänsch.
This article is part of the topical collection “Enlightening the World with the Laser” - Honoring T. W. Hänsch guest edited by Tilman Esslinger, Nathalie Picqué, and Thomas Udem.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
T.W. Hänsch, Nobel lecture: passion for precision. Rev. Mod. Phys. 78, 1297 (2006)
A.H. Zewail, Femtochemistry: atomic-scale dynamics of the chemical bond. J. Phys. Chem. A 104, 5660 (2000). (Nobel Lecture)
F. Krausz, The birth of attosecond physics and its coming of age. Phys. Scr. 91, 063011 (2016)
T. Udem, Phasenkohärente optische Frequenzmessungen am Wasserstoffatom. Thesis, Ludwig-Maximilians Univ (1997)
J. Reichert, R. Holzwarth, T. Udem, T.W. Hänsch, Measuring the frequency of light with modelocked lasers. Opt. Commun. 172, 59 (1999)
Th Udem, J. Reichert, R. Holzwarth, T.W. Hänsch, Accurate measurement of large optical frequency differences with a mode-locked laser. Opt. Lett. 24, 881 (1999)
Th Udem, J. Reichert, R. Holzwarth, T.W. Hänsch, Absolute optical frequency measurement of the cesium D1 line with a mode-locked laser. Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 3568 (1999)
H.R. Telle, G. Steinmeyer, A.E. Dunlop, D.H. Sutter, U. Keller, Carrier-envelope offset phase control: a novel concept for absolute optical frequency measurement and ultrashort pulse generation. Appl. Phys. B 69, 327 (1999)
D.J. Jones et al., Carrier-envelope phase control of femtosecond mode-locked lasers and direct optical frequency synthesis. Science 288, 635 (2000)
S.A. Diddams et al., Direct link between microwave and optical frequencies with a 300 THz femtosecond laser comb. Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 5102 (2000)
J. Reichert et al., Phase coherent vacuum-ultraviolet to radio frequency comparison with a modelocked laser. Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 3232 (2000)
M. Niering et al., Measurement of the hydrogen 1S–2S transition frequency by phase coherent comparison with a microwave cesium fountain clock. Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 5496 (2000)
R. Holzwarth et al., Optical frequency synthesizer for precision spectroscopy. Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 2264 (2000)
J. Ye et al., Accuracy comparison of absolute optical frequency measurement between harmonic generation synthesis and a frequency division femtosecond-comb. Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 3797 (2000)
T. Udem, R. Holzwarth, T.W. Hänsch, Optical frequency metrology. Nature 416, 233 (2002)
L. Xu et al., Route to phase control of ultrashort light pulses. Opt. Lett. 21, 2008 (1996)
A. Apolonski et al., Controlling the phase evolution of few-cycle light pulses. Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 740 (2000)
A. Baltuska et al., Attosecond control of electronic processes by intense light fields. Nature 421, 611 (2003)
X.F. Li, A. L’Huillier, M. Ferray, L.A. Lompre, G. Mainfray, Multiple-harmonic generation in rare gases at high laser intensity. Phys. Rev. A 39, 5751 (1989)
M. Hentschel et al., Attosecond metrology. Nature 414, 509 (2001)
R. Kienberger et al., Atomic transient recorder. Nature 427, 817 (2004)
E. Goulielmakis et al., Direct measurement of light waves. Science 305, 1267 (2004)
F. Krausz, M. Ivanov, Rev. Mod. Phys. 81, 163 (2009)
A. Sommer et al., Attosecond nonlinear polarization and light-matter energy transfer in solids. Nature 534, 86 (2016)
H. Fattahi et al., Third-generation femtosecond technology. Optica 1, 45 (2014)
C. Kealhofer et al., All-optical control and metrology of electron pulses. Science 352, 429 (2016)
Acknowledgement
Open access funding provided by Max Planck Society. I gratefully thank Mandy Singh for her support in preparing this manuscript for publication.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.
The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Krausz, F. (2018). From Quantum Transitions to Electronic Motions. In: Meschede, D., Udem, T., Esslinger, T. (eds) Exploring the World with the Laser. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64346-5_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64346-5_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-64345-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-64346-5
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)