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Towards the goal of controlling individual electrons

A German research team has successfully generated stable laser pulses in the femtosecond range, allowing for the manipulation of individual electrons. The team's achievement enables the stability of the electric field oscillations across a wide range of timescales, from microseconds to hours.

SourceUniversity of Oldenburg·JournalApplied Physics B·TypeExperimental study·DateAug 19, 2026

X-rays: beyond the Nobel Prize limit

Researchers at TU Wien and University of California San Diego have discovered a new quantum regime of coherent X-ray generation with higher energies, breaking the conventional energy cutoff limit. The effect is attributed to the interaction between two electrons in helium atoms, which release their energy simultaneously.

SourceVienna University of Technology·JournalNature Photonics·DateAug 11, 2026

Synchronising ultrashort X-ray pulses

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute have successfully implemented mode-locking to generate coherent trains of X-ray pulses with unprecedented temporal structure. This achievement enables attosecond science and opens up new experimental possibilities, including precise timing of phenomena in gases, liquids, and solids.

SourcePaul Scherrer Institute·JournalPhysical Review Letters·TypeExperimental study·DateJan 7, 2026

Single XUV pulse generation via waveform-controlled laser-plasma interaction

Researchers propose a novel scheme to produce isolated attosecond pulses using relativistic electron mirrors. This approach can compress an incoming femtosecond laser pulse into an ultra-intense extreme ultraviolet (XUV) attosecond burst, opening doors to groundbreaking applications in ultrafast science and high-resolution imaging.

SourceUltrafast Science·JournalUltrafast Science·TypeExperimental study·DateDec 16, 2025

Matter at the crossroads

Researchers at Weizmann Institute create innovative method to track rapid material changes using two laser beams, enabling precise reconstruction of optical delay changes. This advance could lead to the development of fastest processors possible, increasing data transmission speed.

SourceWeizmann Institute of Science·JournalNature Photonics·DateMar 13, 2025

Squeeze it!

Researchers at European XFEL and DESY develop self-chirping method to produce high-power attosecond hard X-ray pulses without reducing electron bunch charge. This enables non-destructive measurements at the atomic level and opens new avenues for studying matter at the atomic scale.

SourceDeutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY·JournalNature Photonics·TypeExperimental study·DateNov 25, 2024

Record-breaking laser pulses

Researchers at ETH Zurich have set a new record for the strongest laser pulses, surpassing previous records by over 50%, using a special arrangement of mirrors and a semiconductor mirror. The pulses can be used to create high harmonic frequencies up to X-rays, enabling fast processes in the attosecond range.

SourceETH Zurich·JournalOptica·DateOct 11, 2024

A new chapter for all-attosecond spectroscopy

A team of researchers from the Max Born Institute has demonstrated a new approach to all-attosecond pump-probe spectroscopy using a compact intense attosecond source. This enables the investigation of extremely fast electron dynamics in the attosecond regime, which is not accessible by current attosecond techniques.

SourceMax Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy (MBI)·JournalScience Advances·TypeExperimental study·DateFeb 22, 2024

Progress in the investigation of ultrafast electron dynamics using short light pulses

Scientists have made significant progress in understanding ultrafast electron dynamics by tracking the motion of electrons released from zinc oxide crystals using laser pulses. The research team combined photoemission electron microscopy and attosecond physics technology to achieve temporal accuracy, enabling them to study the interact...

SourceUniversity of Oldenburg·JournalAdvanced Physics Research·TypeExperimental study·DateJan 4, 2024

A new guide to extremely powerful light pulses

Researchers have demonstrated a new method for guiding light in an energy-scalable manner using two refocusing mirrors and thin nonlinear glass windows. This approach enables the compression of laser pulses to tens of femtosecond duration with gigawatt peak power.

SourceUltrafast Science·JournalUltrafast Science·TypeExperimental study·DateApr 26, 2022

Center stage for quantum mechanical entanglement in an attosecond laser laboratory

Quantum entanglement is studied in attosecond laser laboratory experiments, where neutral hydrogen molecules are ionized using an attosecond pulse. The experiment reveals a competition between vibrational coherence and entanglement, demonstrating the breakdown of local realism.

SourceMax Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy (MBI)·JournalPhysical Review Letters·TypeExperimental study·DateJan 27, 2022

Shaping waveforms

Scientists at the University of Freiburg have developed a method to control electronic dynamics in real time by shaping attosecond pulses. This breakthrough allows for the study of molecular or crystal responses and has potential applications in optimizing processes like photosynthesis and charge separation.

SourceUniversity of Freiburg·JournalNature·DateFeb 13, 2020

Electron filmed for first time ever

Scientists at Lund University have successfully filmed an electron for the first time, capturing its motion on a light wave after being pulled away from an atom. The research uses attosecond pulses to study electron collisions with atoms, providing new opportunities to monitor and understand electron behavior.

SourceSwedish Research Council·JournalPhysical Review Letters·DateFeb 22, 2008