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Bright isolated light pulses reaching 18 attoseconds from high-order harmonic generation by post-compressed Yb lasers
 

Bright isolated light pulses reaching 18 attoseconds from high-order harmonic generation by post-compressed Yb lasers

Jingsong Gao, Mahmudul Hasan, Hao Liang, Ziyang Guo, Chi Zhang, Ming-Shian Tsai, Yiming Yuan, Zach Eisenhutt, Christoph H. Keitel, Chii-Dong Lin, …
Nature communications, Vol.17(1), p.8810
21/08/2026
: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-76827-3
: 42629346
: WOS:001855720400003
Generating ever-shorter and brighter light pulses is a central goal of ultrafast science, enabling coherent control and observation of electron dynamics on their natural timescale. State-of-the-art isolated attosecond pulse generation currently achieves pulse durations of 40-50 attoseconds. Here we demonstrate isolated attosecond light pulses with durations of 18 attoseconds, via high-order harmonic generation driven by a post-compressed industrial-grade Yb laser system. The high-harmonic spectrum spans photon energies from 50 to 320 eV, covering the carbon K-edge, with a calibrated photon flux exceeding 1012 photons per second. Pulse durations were characterized by angle-resolved photoelectron streaking in helium and optimized using a series of filters with different thicknesses to compensate the attochirp. We further developed a robust, fast-converging pulse-retrieval algorithm capable of reconstructing broadband isolated attosecond pulses and double pulses. These results establish Yb-laser-driven high-order harmonic generation as a powerful platform for bright isolated attosecond sources and next-generation ultrafast spectroscopy. The authors generate and characterize the shortest isolated light pulse ever measured-18 attoseconds-using an industrial-grade ytterbium laser, enabling bright tabletop sources for probing ultrafast electron dynamics.

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url
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-76827-3
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