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Updated: May 29, 2026

Direct Imaging of Laser-driven Ultrafast Molecular Rotation
Published on: February 4, 2017
Energy distribution curves of ultrafast laser-induced field emission and their implications for electron dynamics
Hirofumi Yanagisawa1, Matthias Hengsberger, Dominik Leuenberger
1Physik Institut, Universität Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland. hirofumi@phys.ethz.ch
Abstract:
Energy distribution curves of laser-induced electron pulses from a tungsten tip have been measured as a function of tip voltage and laser power. Electron emission via tunneling through and/or excitation over the surface barrier from photoexcited nonequilibrium electron distributions are clearly observed. The spectral shapes largely vary with the emission processes and are strongly affected by electron dynamics. Simulations successfully reproduce the spectra, thus allowing direct insight into the involved electron dynamics and revealing the temporal tunability of electron emission via the two experimental parameters. These results should be useful to optimize the pulse characteristics for many applications based on ultrafast laser-induced electron emission.
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