Electric Field Resolved Image Formation in a Widefield Optical Microscope

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel all-optical imaging method that directly visualizes the electric field in a widefield optical microscope with high temporal and spatial resolution, enabling new insights into light-matter interactions.

Contribution

The authors develop an innovative technique to directly measure the electric field in a microscope's sample plane, surpassing previous limitations and revealing dynamic optical phenomena.

Findings

Resolved electric field dynamics in MoTe2 with 100-attosecond temporal resolution.

Visualized pulse broadening and scattering contrast buildup in thick MoTe2.

Demonstrated full in-plane electric field vector imaging during photoexcitation.

Abstract

Visualizing the spatiotemporal evolution of the electric field of light is fundamental to optics, from designing photonic devices to developing next-generation microscopes. However, we lack the experimental tools to directly access the electric field of light in the sample plane of an optical microscope. Here, we introduce an all-optical imaging modality that resolves the electric field of light in the plane of a traditional widefield transmission optical microscope with 100-attosecond temporal and 200-nanometer spatial resolution. With this we demonstrate the delayed buildup of scattering contrast and pulse broadening through and around a thick MoTe2 flake - dynamics inaccessible via standard simulations. We showcase our technique's versatility by additionally resolving the full in-plane vector electric field lines during photoexcitation as the optical pulse propagates through and around the MoTe2 flake.