By: Laura Rego (IMDEA-Nanociencia)
When: Thursday, June 6 - 12PM
Where: Salón de Actos, ICMM-CSIC
Abstract: Ultrashort laser pulses open the route towards the investigation of ultrafast dynamics in matter, as they can capture ultrafast electronic movements. In particular, attosecond laser pulses are the shortest pulses to date. Such pulses carry extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) or x-ray frequencies and they are routinely generated via the process of high-order harmonic generation (HHG) or in x-ray free-electron laser facilities. In this context, structured laser pulses, where the properties of the laser’s electromagnetic field are tailored, usually to vary spatially, offer a wide range of possibilities. In this talk, we will first see some examples of how structured laser pulses can be used to control different properties of the attosecond XUV pulses generated through HHG (such as their polarization, their spatial profile or even their spectral content). In addition, I will show that ultrashort structured laser pulses can also serve as a tool to investigate properties of matter, such as ultrafast molecular chirality, when used to drive nonlinear interactions.
