Quantum interference and imaging using intense laser fields

TL;DR

This paper reviews how intense laser fields are used in quantum interference and imaging techniques like photoelectron holography and electron diffraction, highlighting their peculiarities and recent advancements in attosecond science.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of intense light-matter interaction techniques in attosecond imaging, addressing questions about measurement spaces and coherence properties.

Findings

Discussion of the peculiarities of intense light-matter interaction

Analysis of photoelectron holography and laser-induced electron diffraction

Insights into coherence differences in high-harmonic generation and above-threshold ionization

Abstract

The interference of matter waves is one of the intriguing features of quantum mechanics that has impressed researchers and laymen since it was first suggested almost a century ago. Nowadays, attosecond science tools allow us to utilize it in order to extract valuable information from electron wavepackets. Intense laser fields are routinely employed to create electron wave packets and control their motion with sub-femtosecond and sub-nanometer precision. In this perspective article, we discuss some of the peculiarities of intense light-matter interaction. We review some of the most important techniques used in attosecond imaging, namely photoelectron holography and laser-induced electron diffraction. We attempt to ask and answer a few questions that do not get asked very often. For example, if we are interested in position space information, why are measurements carried out in momentum space? How to accurately retrieve photoelecron spactra from the numerical solution of the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation? And, what causes the different coherence properties of high-harmonic generation and above-threshold ionization?