Düsseldorf 2007 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Downloads | Help

Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 26: Anwendung ultrakurzer Lichtimpulse II

Q 26.2: Talk

Tuesday, March 20, 2007, 14:15–14:30, 5K

Ultrafast electron emission from sharp tungsten tips — •Peter Hommelhoff, Catherine Kealhofer, and Mark Kasevich — Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

We present an experimental and numerical study of electron emission from a sharp tungsten tip triggered by sub-8 femtosecond low power laser pulses. This process is non-linear in the laser electric field, and the non-linearity can be tuned via the DC voltage applied to the tip. Numerical simulations of this system show that electron emission takes place within less than one optical period of the exciting laser pulse, so that an 8 fsec 800 nm laser pulse is capable of producing a single electron pulse of less than 1 fsec duration. Furthermore, we find that the carrier-envelope phase dependence of the emission process is smaller than 0.1% for an 8 fsec pulse but is steeply increasing with decreasing laser pulse duration.