Attosecond quantum optics

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the generation, control, and application of ultrafast squeezed light at attosecond timescales, revealing new quantum dynamics and enabling high-speed quantum photonic technologies.

Contribution

It introduces methods to generate and manipulate attosecond-scale quantum states of light and explores their implications for ultrafast quantum optics and photonics.

Findings

Time-dependent squeezing distribution across electric field cycles

Attosecond control of quantum states visualized via Wigner functions

Ultrafast squeezed light encodes quantum properties into photoinduced tunneling currents

Abstract

Modern quantum optics primarily operates in the quasistationary regime, isolated from the intrinsic timescales of ultrafast optical fields. Pushing these boundaries into the femtosecond and attosecond domains is a critical frontier. Here, we generate, shape, and interrogate the quantum state of an ultrafast squeezed light field. Our optical metrology reveals a highly dynamic, time dependent squeezing distribution across individual half cycles of the electric field. Incorporating this intracycle squeezing into strong field simulations demonstrates that the temporal redistribution of quantum uncertainty fundamentally reshapes the quantum strong field physics of high harmonic emission. Furthermore, we achieve attosecond scale control of the squeezed state, visualized through inferred effective Wigner representations. Finally, we show that ultrafast squeezed light encodes its quantum properties into a photoinduced tunneling current within a petahertz phototransistor with subfemtosecond resolution, demonstrating a direct optical electronic quantum coupling. This work lays the foundation for the emerging field of ultrafast quantum optics and unlocks new avenues for high speed quantum communication and photonics.