Spatiotemporal Shaping of Structured Light Pulses at the Attosecond Scale

During the last decade, attosecond science has greatly benefited from the generation of ultrafast laser pulses spatially sculpted in their amplitude, phase and polarization properties—i.e., in their spin and orbital angular momentum. From time-resolved studies of chiral systems and magnetic materials to spatially resolved ultrafast electronic and spin dynamics, structured attosecond pulses are opening exciting new avenues in ultrafast science.

In this webinar, Carlos Hernández-García will review key advances in structuring light pulses at the attosecond timescale via high-order harmonic generation (HHG). Hernández-García will highlight not only the ability to tailor the angular momentum properties of attosecond pulses but also how the topology of extreme-ultraviolet and soft X-ray pulses can be used to probe ultrafast electronic dynamics in matter. Furthermore, he will present his most recent results on the generation of spatiotemporal optical vortices and attosecond pulses through HHG, enabled by favorable angular momentum conservation rules. These findings demonstrate new routes toward controlling light in both space and time at the attosecond scale.

Subject Matter Level: Introductory - Assumes little previous knowledge of the topic

What You Will Learn:
• How to structure ultrafast light pulses in intensity, phase and polarizarion
• How to generate extreme-ultraviolet vortices and vector beams
• State of the art science for the generation of attosecond pulses

Who Should Attend:
• PhD students and researchers interested in nonlinear optics and ultrafast phenomena
• PhD students and researchers in attosecond science
• PhD students and researchers in structured light

About the Presenter: Carlos Hernández-García from University of Salamanca

Carlos Hernández-García is an Associate Professor at Universidad de Salamanca (Spain).He received his PhD in Physics in 2013. After a European Marie Sklodowska Curie postdoctoral stay at JILA, University of Colorado at Boulder, he returned to Universidad de Salamanca where he leads the Unit on Structured Light and Matter (LUMES) and the ERC Starting Grant project ATTOSTRUCTURA. His work focuses on the generation and applications of ultrafast structured laser pulses, merging structured light and attosecond sciences. Together with his colleagues and collaborators, he has designed theoretical tools to understand and combine quantum simulations with highly non-linear strong-field processes. Recipient of the Fresnel Prize 2019, the IUPAP Young Scientist Prize 2021, and the ICO Prize 2023.