Laser and Synchrotron Research Center (LASOR),
the Institute for Solid State Physics (ISSP)
The University of TokyoItatani Laboratory

JAPANESE

Research

1. Laser Light Sources

The picture below shows the laser laboratory of Shin, Kobayashi, and Itatani groups. There are several high-peak-power femtosecond lasers that are fully operational. The Itatani group concentrates on (i) the development of intense IR sources, (ii) high harmonic generation to produce coherent attosecond pulses in soft x rays, and (iii) attosecond spectroscopy of molecules (and hopefully solids). The whole facilities are set up in temperature-controlled clean rooms on a large-scale vibration-free floor, which is crucial for attosecond experiments using high power lasers.

2. Strong-Field and Ultrafast Experiments

We are currently developing application chambers for EUV attosecond experiments. The chambers are designed to avoid the influences of environmental vibration to the optical path of lasers and high harmonic beams. Such efforts are important to realize interferometric experiments using coherent short wavelength light. With these setup, we plan to develop novel ultrafast imaging methods using the coherent properties of high harmonics and electrons.

3. Beyond our research ― "Directing Matter and Energy"

We hope to develop new ultrafast technologies using intense broadband optical fields from THz to EUV and coherent attosecond pulses to challenge the problems in modern material sciences. One of the key concept is to control the coherence of electrons and quasi-particles as well as that of the optical fields to probe the quantum nature of matters. Such methods should be the fusion of spectroscopy and imaging. Once we understand highly excited states of molecules and solids, the probing method can then turn to a method to control their properties. If you are interested in this line of research, especially with respect to the possible roles to general society, you may take a look at the DOE report entitled "Directing Matter and Energy: Five Challenges for Science and Imagination". In this report, an experiment developed by Dr. Itatani at NRC is introduced as "Quantum Electron Scattering."