Exciting X-rays: Attosecond pulses monitor and control carrier and spin dynamics in solid matter

Novel materials with by-design properties that can be grown down to the two-dimensional limit are considered important candidates for addressing computation and energy challenges of the twenty-first century. For instance, band gaps by design and enhanced transport properties give prospects for highly efficient solar energy conversion and low-loss optoelectronics and memories. The complexity of available materials and combinations, however, renders it challenging to predict related properties. Attosecond pulses spanning photon energies of tens of electron volts in the extreme ultraviolet and soft X-ray range are a unique tool to spectroscopically study out-of-equilibrium dynamics with atomic specificity. In some cases, it can even be observed that dynamics are excited by the X-ray pulses directly. In our new lab we extend this approach by combining attosecond spectroscopy with attosecond diffraction as multimodal probe for correlated dynamics in solid state materials for which I will present first measurements on magnetic materials and discuss future directions.

Speaker: Michael Zuerch, UC Berkeley