Attosecond X-ray Free-Electron Lasers

The invention of attosecond light sources using high-harmonic generation has inspired a new field of research. Attosecond science is concerned with the study of electronic dynamics in quantum systems, and it has influenced a variety of scientific disciplines: from atomic and solid state physics to biology. The success of this technology has been recently recognized with the 2023 Nobel prize in physics awarded to Anne l’Hullier, Pierre Agostini and Ferenc Kraus.

The development of attosecond X-ray free-electron lasers has opened the next chapter in attosecond science. XFELs can produce X-ray sub-fs pulses with a peak brightness that is more than 7 orders of magnitude higher than conventional table-top sources based on HHG, and with a photon energy that extends into the hard X-ray regime.

In my talk I will discuss the development of attosecond capabilities at the LCLS and other XFELs worldwide. I will present recent results in attosecond science, including the demonstration of attosecond pump/attosecond probe spectroscopy and the generation of Terawatt-scale pulses. Finally, I will discuss future directions for attosecond science: from the LCLS-II upgrade to the generation of few-cycle attosecond pulses with plasma-based electron injectors.

Speaker: Ago Marinelli, Stanford University & SLAC

Attend in person, or online.