Comprehensive spatial and temporal analysis of attosecond time-resolved photoemission dynamics

Area of Science:

• Quantum dynamics
• Ultrafast spectroscopy
• Attosecond science

Background:

• Attosecond time-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ATRPS) offers potential for high-resolution imaging of light-matter interactions.
• Current ATRPS methods extract limited integral metrics, neglecting valuable differential information.
• Existing reconstruction algorithms often overlook crucial Coulomb-laser coupling effects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a quantum path-integral (QPI) model for ATRPS.
• To rigorously capture photoelectron phase dynamics and utilize differential information.
• To transform ATRPS into a multi-parameter high-resolution imaging tool.

Main Methods:

• Developed a quantum path-integral (QPI) model using a velocity-gauge formalism.
• Employed retroactive path tracing to include all critical quantum paths.
• Revealed the joint distribution of XUV photon energy, ionization time, and initial electron position.

Main Results:

• The QPI model reveals coherent coupling between XUV spectra, laser dynamics, and initial state densities.
• It unifies streaking and RABBIT methods for efficient time extraction.
• Achieved attosecond-picometer resolution imaging of XUV fields, laser fields, and quantum states.

Conclusions:

• The QPI model effectively utilizes previously overlooked photoelectron differential information.
• ATRPS is transformed from integral analysis to a multi-parameter imaging tool.
• Provides a physical model for advanced ATRPS reconstruction algorithms.