Descripción del proyecto
Estudio con una alta resolución espacial de la dinámica ultrarrápida de los electrones
La coherencia cuántica constituye un aspecto fundamental de la física cuántica, ya que permite caracterizar las correlaciones de fase de las ondas de luz o de materia. La falta de herramientas de imagenología con una resolución espacial y temporal tremendamente alta obstaculiza los estudios sobre los fenómenos de coherencia en sistemas de electrones. El objetivo del proyecto ATTIDA, financiado con fondos europeos, es desarrollar todo el potencial de la espectroscopia de attosegundos al investigar fenómenos coherentes ultrarrápidos con una alta resolución espacial. El método propuesto radica en la combinación de la espectroscopia de attosegundos con la microscopia de efecto túnel y la holografía con electrones. Esta combinación de técnicas debería permitir a los investigadores estudiar la dinámica de carga de una molécula individual y observar cómo evolucionan los sistemas de electrones en nanoestructuras a lo largo del tiempo. Las actividades del proyecto podrían beneficiar a múltiples campos, como la óptica cuántica, la plasmónica, la electrónica molecular, la ciencia de superficies y la femtoquímica.
Objetivo
Coherence is a fundamental property of quantum mechanics, characterizing phase correlations of light or matter waves. It is at the heart of many physical phenomena, such as the creation of electron-hole pairs in the photovoltaic effect or the fast migration of electronic charge within a molecule. In order to study coherent electron dynamics, extremely high spatial and temporal resolving power is required, which is highly challenging. Well-established imaging methods like scanning tunneling microscopy achieve atomic-scale spatial resolution, while lacking ultrafast time resolution. At the temporal frontier, I recently bridged the gap between attosecond spectroscopy (1as = 10-18 s) and the nano-scale. The goal of my research program is to unlock the full potential of attosecond spectroscopy by achieving simultaneous spatial and temporal probing of ultrafast coherent phenomena.
The proposed approach relies on the introduction of attosecond spectroscopy into scanning tunneling microscopy and electron holography. The spatial resolution of these methods is based on nano-scale needle tips, serving as local probes or as point-like electron sources. My team and I will develop attosecond temporal gates at the tips, enabling pump-probe spectroscopy. The resulting “pump” – triggering the coherent dynamics – and the “probe” – measuring its evolution – are localized in space and time, with attosecond and sub-nanometer precision. This combination will allow watching charge dynamics in a single molecule and observing multi-electron dynamics in nanostructures with atomic-scale site selectivity, as they evolve in real time.
My approach has the potential to shed new light on quantum optics, plasmonics, molecular electronics, surface science and femtochemistry. In particular, my team and I will study quantum tunneling on the atomic level, charge migration in organic molecules and electron-hole dynamics in low-dimensional solid-state systems.
Ámbito científico
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
ERC-STG - Starting GrantInstitución de acogida
32000 Haifa
Israel