Attosecond light pulse induced photo-association

TL;DR

This paper investigates attosecond pump-probe techniques to induce and control photo-association in atoms, proposing methods to enhance this process and suggesting its application in measuring atomic distances.

Contribution

It introduces new methods for controlling attosecond stimulated photo-association using infrared pulses and pulse trains, advancing ultrafast atomic measurement techniques.

Findings

Maximal electron absorption occurs at specific delays between pulses.

Infrared pulses can steer electronic wave packets to enhance photo-association.

Train of attosecond pulses improves control over the process.

Abstract

We explore stimulated photo-association in the context of attosecond pump-probe schemes of atomic matter. An attosecond pulse -- the probe -- is used to induce photo-association of an electronic wave packet which had been created before, typically with an attosecond pump pulse at an atomic center different from the one of photo-association. We will show that the electron absorption is maximal for a certain delay between the pulses. Two ways of enhancing and controlling stimulated photo-association are proposed, namely using an additional infrared pulse to steer the electronic wave packet and using a train of attosecond pulses instead of a single pair. A direct application of ultrafast stimulated photo-association is the measurement of atomic distances.