Diffractive molecular-orbital tomography

Chunyang Zhai, Xiaosong Zhu, Pengfei Lan, Feng Wang, Lixin He, Wenjing Shi, Yang Li, Min Li, Qingbin Zhang, and Peixiang Lu
Phys. Rev. A 95, 033420 – Published 21 March 2017

Abstract

High-order-harmonic generation in the interaction of femtosecond lasers with atoms and molecules opens the path to molecular-orbital tomography and to probe the electronic dynamics with attosecond-Ångström resolutions. Molecular-orbital tomography requires both the amplitude and phase of the high-order harmonics. Yet the measurement of phases requires sophisticated techniques and represents formidable challenges at present. Here we report a scheme, called diffractive molecular-orbital tomography, to retrieve the molecular orbital solely from the amplitude of high-order harmonics without measuring any phase information. We have applied this method to image the molecular orbitals of N2, CO2, and C2H2. The retrieved orbital is further improved by taking account the correction of Coulomb potential. The diffractive molecular-orbital tomography scheme, removing the roadblock of phase measurement, significantly simplifies the molecular-orbital tomography procedure and paves an efficient and robust way to the imaging of more complex molecules.

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  • Received 8 November 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.95.033420

©2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Atomic, Molecular & Optical

Authors & Affiliations

Chunyang Zhai1, Xiaosong Zhu1, Pengfei Lan1,*, Feng Wang1, Lixin He1, Wenjing Shi1, Yang Li1, Min Li1, Qingbin Zhang1, and Peixiang Lu1,2,†

  • 1Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics and School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
  • 2Laboratory of Optical Information Technology, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan 430205, China

  • *pengfeilan@hust.edu.cn
  • lupeixiang@hust.edu.cn

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Issue

Vol. 95, Iss. 3 — March 2017

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