Laser-like beams at very short wavelengths (1-50nm) can now be routinely generated using high harmonic up-conversion (HHG) of tabletop femtosecond lasers.[1,2] These new quantum light sources are providing powerful new tools for probing and understanding nanoscale material properties and function. The short wavelength of HHG beams are well suited to advanced spectroscopies and imaging with high spatial resolution,[3-6] while the femtosecond-to-attosecond duration of HHG pulses is fast enough to capture the fastest spin, charge and phonon dynamics in materials. This talk will discuss the first sub-wavelength imaging using short wavelength sources, as well as new capabilities for tuning the polarization, spin and orbital angular momentum of HHG beams by sculpting the driving laser beams.
[1] A. Rundquist et al., Science 280, 1412 (1998).
[2] T. Popmintchev et al., Science 336, 1287 (2012).
[3] L. Rego et al., Science 364, eaaw9486 (2019).
[4] K. Dorney et al., Nature Photonics 13, 123 (2019).
[5] D. Gardner et al., Nature Photonics 11, 259 (2017).
[6] R. Karl et al., Science Advances 4, eaau4295 (2018).
Dr. Henry Kapteyn is a Fellow at JILA and a member of the Department of Physics at the University of Colorado. He received his B.S and M.S. degrees from Harvey Muidd College and Princeton, and his Ph.D. degree in physics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1989. He runs a joint research group and a small laser company with his wife, Prof. Margaret Murnane. Henry's research interests have been in ultrafast laser and x-ray science. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the Optical Society of America and the AAAS. His honors include the Schawlow Prize of the APS, the Zewail Award of the ACS and election to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.