Atomic and molecular phases through attosecond streaking

TL;DR

This paper explores how attosecond streaking can accurately measure the phase of atomic or molecular ionization matrix elements and discusses interference effects that influence the interpretation of streaking signals.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of phase measurement in attosecond streaking and highlights the impact of interference effects on the accuracy of pulse reconstruction.

Findings

Interference can alter the streaking phase within the IR envelope.

Attosecond streaking can determine the relative phase of ionization matrix elements.

Interference effects must be considered in pulse reconstruction.

Abstract

In attosecond streaking, an electron is released by a short xuv pulse into a strong near infrared laser field. When the laser coupling between two states in the target is weak relative to the detuning, the streaking technique, which allows for a complete determination of the driving field, also gives an accurate measurement of the relative phase of the atomic or molecular ionization matrix elements from the two states through the interference from the two channels. The interference may change the phase of the photoelectron streaking signal within the envelope of the ir field, an effect to be accounted for when reconstructing short pulses from the photoelectron signal and in attosecond time-resolved measurements.