Summary
Ultrafast laser pulses allow us to follow fundamental processes such as chemical reactions and electron transport at their natural timescale. Because optical (ultraviolet, visible or infrared) laser sources have not been able to reach the attosecond pulse duration required to investigate the fastest events, ultrafast science has moved to extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) wavelengths. However, XUV photon energies are far higher than the scale of chemically and electronically relevant valence-electron excitations, so XUV spectroscopy is at most only indirectly sensitive to some of the most important interactions. Furthermore, the low pulse energy of attosecond XUV sources has so far prevented experiments with true attosecond time resolution.
In FASTER, I will push far beyond the limits of conventional laser sources and bring attosecond time resolution to the optical domain. Using advanced optical soliton dynamics in gas-filled hollow capillary fibres, I will create ultrabroadband supercontinuum probe pulses and wavelength-tuneable pump pulses from the vacuum ultraviolet (100 nm) to the near infrared (1000 nm) with both attosecond duration and sufficient pulse energy for attosecond pump-probe studies. Using the flexibility of soliton dynamics and all-optical spatio-spectral manipulation, I will tailor these pulses to specific experiments.
I will then take one step further and develop two-dimensional spectroscopy with the same approach, combining ultrabroadband optical attosecond pulses with the ability to identify different excitation pathways and quantum coherences. In collaboration with expert groups, I will apply these new capabilities to some of the most challenging questions in ultrafast science and directly observe crucial valence-electron interactions with unprecedented time resolution.
FASTER aims at the physical limit of optical ultrafast laser pulses and a new regime of ultrafast spectroscopy, opening up entirely new ways of observing the fastest processes in nature.
In FASTER, I will push far beyond the limits of conventional laser sources and bring attosecond time resolution to the optical domain. Using advanced optical soliton dynamics in gas-filled hollow capillary fibres, I will create ultrabroadband supercontinuum probe pulses and wavelength-tuneable pump pulses from the vacuum ultraviolet (100 nm) to the near infrared (1000 nm) with both attosecond duration and sufficient pulse energy for attosecond pump-probe studies. Using the flexibility of soliton dynamics and all-optical spatio-spectral manipulation, I will tailor these pulses to specific experiments.
I will then take one step further and develop two-dimensional spectroscopy with the same approach, combining ultrabroadband optical attosecond pulses with the ability to identify different excitation pathways and quantum coherences. In collaboration with expert groups, I will apply these new capabilities to some of the most challenging questions in ultrafast science and directly observe crucial valence-electron interactions with unprecedented time resolution.
FASTER aims at the physical limit of optical ultrafast laser pulses and a new regime of ultrafast spectroscopy, opening up entirely new ways of observing the fastest processes in nature.
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More information & hyperlinks
| Web resources: | https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101161675 |
| Start date: | 01-06-2025 |
| End date: | 31-05-2030 |
| Total budget - Public funding: | 2 453 025,00 Euro - 2 453 025,00 Euro |
Cordis data
Original description
Ultrafast laser pulses allow us to follow fundamental processes such as chemical reactions and electron transport at their natural timescale. Because optical (ultraviolet, visible or infrared) laser sources have not been able to reach the attosecond pulse duration required to investigate the fastest events, ultrafast science has moved to extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) wavelengths. However, XUV photon energies are far higher than the scale of chemically and electronically relevant valence-electron excitations, so XUV spectroscopy is at most only indirectly sensitive to some of the most important interactions. Furthermore, the low pulse energy of attosecond XUV sources has so far prevented experiments with true attosecond time resolution.In FASTER, I will push far beyond the limits of conventional laser sources and bring attosecond time resolution to the optical domain. Using advanced optical soliton dynamics in gas-filled hollow capillary fibres, I will create ultrabroadband supercontinuum probe pulses and wavelength-tuneable pump pulses from the vacuum ultraviolet (100 nm) to the near infrared (1000 nm) with both attosecond duration and sufficient pulse energy for attosecond pump-probe studies. Using the flexibility of soliton dynamics and all-optical spatio-spectral manipulation, I will tailor these pulses to specific experiments.
I will then take one step further and develop two-dimensional spectroscopy with the same approach, combining ultrabroadband optical attosecond pulses with the ability to identify different excitation pathways and quantum coherences. In collaboration with expert groups, I will apply these new capabilities to some of the most challenging questions in ultrafast science and directly observe crucial valence-electron interactions with unprecedented time resolution.
FASTER aims at the physical limit of optical ultrafast laser pulses and a new regime of ultrafast spectroscopy, opening up entirely new ways of observing the fastest processes in nature.
Status
SIGNEDCall topic
ERC-2024-STGUpdate Date
18-11-2024
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