Observation of a train of attosecond pulses from high harmonic generation

Science. 2001 Jun 1;292(5522):1689-92. doi: 10.1126/science.1059413.

Abstract

In principle, the temporal beating of superposed high harmonics obtained by focusing a femtosecond laser pulse in a gas jet can produce a train of very short intensity spikes, depending on the relative phases of the harmonics. We present a method to measure such phases through two-photon, two-color photoionization. We found that the harmonics are locked in phase and form a train of 250-attosecond pulses in the time domain. Harmonic generation may be a promising source for attosecond time-resolved measurements.