Ultrafast preparation and detection of ring currents in single atoms
Eckart S, Kunitski M, Richter M, Hartung A, Rist J, Trinter F, Fehre K, Schlott N, Henrichs K, Schmidt LPH, Jahnke T, Schoeffler M, Liu K, Barth I, Kaushal J, Morales F, Ivanov M, Smirnova O, Doerner R (2018)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2018
Journal
Book Volume: 14
Pages Range: 701-704
Journal Issue: 7
DOI: 10.1038/s41567-018-0080-5
Abstract
Quantum particles can penetrate potential barriers by tunnelling 1 . If that barrier is rotating, the tunnelling process is modified 2,3 . This is typical for electrons in atoms, molecules or solids exposed to strong circularly polarized laser pulses 4-6 . Here we measure how the transmission probability through a rotating tunnel depends on the sign of the magnetic quantum number m of the electron and thus on the initial direction of rotation of its quantum phase. We further show that our findings agree with a semiclassical picture, in which the electron keeps part of that rotary motion on its way through the tunnel by measuring m-dependent modification of the electron emission pattern. These findings are relevant for attosecond metrology as well as for interpretation of strong-field electron emission from atoms and molecules 7-14 and directly demonstrate the creation of ring currents in bound states of ions with attosecond precision. In solids, this could open a way to inducing and controlling ring-current-related topological phenomena 15 .
Involved external institutions
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
Germany (DE)
Max-Planck-Institut für Mikrostrukturphysik (MSP) / Max Planck Institute for Microstructure Physics
Germany (DE)
Max-Born-Institut für Nichtlineare Optik und Kurzzeitspektroskopie im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. / Max Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy
Germany (DE)
Germany (DE)
Max-Planck-Institut für Mikrostrukturphysik (MSP) / Max Planck Institute for Microstructure Physics
Germany (DE)
Max-Born-Institut für Nichtlineare Optik und Kurzzeitspektroskopie im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. / Max Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy
Germany (DE)
How to cite
APA:
Eckart, S., Kunitski, M., Richter, M., Hartung, A., Rist, J., Trinter, F.,... Doerner, R. (2018). Ultrafast preparation and detection of ring currents in single atoms. Nature Physics, 14(7), 701-704. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-018-0080-5
MLA:
Eckart, Sebastian, et al. "Ultrafast preparation and detection of ring currents in single atoms." Nature Physics 14.7 (2018): 701-704.
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