Attosecond quantum spectroscopy with entangled photon pairs

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how entangled photon pairs can be used to perform attosecond quantum spectroscopy in solids, revealing quantum correlations in high-harmonic generation and enabling quantum-enhanced ultrafast measurements.

Contribution

It introduces a method for transferring quantum features of IR light sources to the XUV range via HHG in solids using entangled photons, advancing attosecond quantum optics.

Findings

Single-shot measurements show photon bunching up to the 10th harmonic order.

Harmonics in degenerate mode exhibit a non-monotonic $g^{(2)}$ behavior.

Quantum correlations are preserved in non-degenerate harmonics, verified by cross-correlation maps.

Abstract

Bright squeezed light from parametric down-conversion in the infrared (IR) frequency range has triggered the emergence of attosecond quantum optics -- a new research field at the interface of quantum optics, strong-field physics, and attosecond technology. Two challenges arise at this interface: transferring quantum features of the IR light sources to the ultraviolet (UV) and extreme ultraviolet (XUV) frequency range via strong-field nonlinearities, and exploiting quantum optical properties of the nonlinear optical response as a new probe in ultrafast dynamics. Here, we address both by driving high-harmonic generation (HHG) in solids with entangled photon pairs either in degenerate or non-degenerate frequency modes. In the degenerate mode, single-shot measurements of harmonics up to the 10th order reveal strong photon bunching whose $g^{(2)}$ first grows and then decreases with the harmonic order. We show that this behavior tracks different microscopic mechanisms responsible for harmonic emission, demonstrating the potential of attosecond quantum optical spectroscopy. In the non-degenerate case, the harmonics retain quantum-induced correlations, verified by wavelength-resolved second-order cross-correlation maps. Our findings demonstrate transfer of quantum photon correlations into the XUV domain and open a pathway toward quantum-enhanced attosecond spectroscopy and control of ultrafast dynamics in solids.