Photon-statistics force in ultrafast electron dynamics

TL;DR

This paper reveals that the quantum state of intense light influences ultrafast electron dynamics, introducing a photon-statistics force that can be controlled to shape attosecond pulses, bridging attosecond science and quantum optics.

Contribution

It extends the strong-field approximation to include non-classical light, demonstrating how quantum light states affect electron trajectories in high harmonic generation.

Findings

Quantum light states influence electron dynamics in HHG.

Squeezing the driving light alters attosecond pulse shapes.

Theoretical framework connects quantum optics with attosecond science.

Abstract

In strong-field physics and attosecond science, intense light induces ultrafast electron dynamics. Such ultrafast dynamics of electrons in matter is at the core of phenomena such as high harmonic generation (HHG), where these dynamics lead to emission of extreme UV bursts with attosecond duration. So far, all ultrafast dynamics of matter were understood to originate purely from the classical vector potential of the driving light, disregarding the influence of the quantum nature of light. Here we show that dynamics of matter driven by bright (intense) light significantly depend on the quantum state of the driving light, which induces an effective photon-statistics force. To provide a unified framework for the analysis & control over such a force, we extend the strong-field approximation (SFA) theory to account for non-classical driving light. Our quantum SFA (qSFA) theory shows that in HHG, experimentally feasible squeezing of the driving light can shift & shape electronic trajectories and attosecond pulses at the scale of hundreds of attoseconds. Our work presents a new degree-of-freedom for attosecond spectroscopy, by relying on nonclassical electromagnetic fields, and more generally, introduces a direct connection between attosecond science and quantum optics.