Initial phase

Ursula Keller, June 2011

Ten years ago, we began a new research effort in attoscience at ETH Zurich, building on our ultrafast laser expertise in the few femtosecond regime.

Attoscience describes a new research field in time-resolved spectroscopy and in sub-femtosecond lasers. Attosecond time resolution, where 1 attosecond (as) corresponds to 10-18 seconds, is required to resolve the dynamics of charge and energy transport on an atomic and molecular scale. These features are at the cutting edge of our NCCR MUST project, where the scientific driver is to better understand how matter functions at the electronic, atomic and molecular level; how matter changes its structure during a reaction; and how quanta of energy are transported on a microscopic spatial and ultrafast time scale. Attoscience is embedded in the MUST vision that we can contribute to important challenges such as alternative energy sources and improving health. We take a broader view to address these challenges through basic research, which we believe is fundamentally critical for breakthrough progress in these areas. My group started to work in attosecond science in 2001, mostly funded by a previous NCCR project in Quantum Photonics.

Ref. [313] U. Keller
Download“Attoscience at ETH Zurich: shining new light on old questions in quantum mechanics” – Invited Paper (PDF, 434 KB)vertical_align_bottom
Chimia, vol. 65, No. 5, pp. 294-298, 2011

T. Feurer and U. Keller
Download“National Center of Competence in Research: Molecular Ultrafast Science and Technology” – Editorial (PDF, 184 KB)vertical_align_bottom
Chimia, vol. 65, No. 5, pp. 292-293, 2011