Attosecond Magnetic Field Pulse Generation by Intense Few Cycle Circularly Polarized UV Pulses

TL;DR

This paper predicts and simulates the generation of intense attosecond magnetic field pulses using circularly polarized UV pulses, revealing their dependence on pulse parameters and molecular orientation.

Contribution

It introduces a numerical study demonstrating how circularly polarized UV pulses produce ultrafast magnetic fields via electron wave packet dynamics.

Findings

Magnetic fields of tens of Teslas are generated.

Magnetic field strength depends on pulse wavelength and duration.

Molecular orientation affects magnetic field generation.

Abstract

Intense attosecond magnetic field pulses are predicted to be produced by intense few cycle circularly polarized UV pulses. Numerical solutions of the time dependent Schr\"{o}dinger equation for H$_2^+$ are used to study the dynamical process. Spiralling attosecond circular electron wave packets are created with nanometer molecular dimensions, thus generating magnetic fields of several tens of Teslas ($10^5$ Gauss). Simulations show that the induced magnetic field is critically dependent on the pulse wavelength $\lambda$ and pulse duration $n\tau$ ($n$ number of cycle) as predicted by a classical model. For ultrashort few cycle circularly polarized attosecond pulses, molecular orientation influences the generation of the induced magnetic fields as a result of preferential ionization perpendicular to the molecular axis.