A powerful laser system for driving sophisticated experiments in attosecond science
Attosecond science has revolutionized the way we look into the time-dependent evolution of the microscopic world, where the behaviour of matter is governed by the rules of quantum mechanics. The technological breakthrough that made possible the development of the field is based on the generation of ultra-short laser pulses that last only a few oscillations of the electric field. These short pulses have a focused intensity where the electric field is comparable to the one electrons experience inside atoms and molecules. It is possible to control both the exact temporal shape and the waveform of these ultra-short pulses. While ultra-short laser pulses have been used in a few laboratories worldwide to study light-induced dynamics in atoms and molecules, many questions remain unanswered, due to the low data rates and inherently low SNR achievable with current state-of-the-art laser systems.