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Itatani Group

member
Associate Professor ITATANI, Jiro
Research Associate KURIHARA, Takayuki
Project Research Associate MIZUNO, Tomoya

Research Subjects

  • Development of phase-stable intense ultrashort-pulse lasers
  • Generation of soft-X-ray attosecond pulse, attosecond spectroscopy of atoms, molecules, and solids
  • Observation and control of ultrafast phenomena in strong optical fields
  • Development of ultrafast soft X-ray spectroscopy

We work on the development of intense ultrashort-pulse light sources and their applications to ultrafast spectroscopy of strong-field-driven processes on the femtosecond to attosecond scales. Regarding the R&D of light sources, we focus on the generation of waveform-controlled intense optical pulses from visible to mid infrared spectral ranges, and the generation of soft-X-ray attosecond pulses using the physics of high harmonic generation. Furthermore, we develop the building blocks of next-generation light sources to break the limit of current Ti:sapphire laser-based technologies. Based on these novel light sources and techniques, we develop attosecond soft-X-ray spectroscopy and other ultrafast methodology to explore field-driven nonlinear processes of atoms, molecules, and solids. Our waveform-controlled intense light sources and related technologies are expected to realize novel ultrafast spectroscopy that cover an extremely broad spectral range from THz to soft X rays. We aim to observe and control ultrafast dynamics of non-equilibrium states of matters through various freedoms.

Transient absorption spectroscopy of NO molecules using soft-X-ray attosecond pulses. (a) Experimental setup. (b) Spectrum of attosecond pulses. (c) Relevant energy levels of NO molecules. (d) Observed transient absorption spectra. (e)Absorption spectra of the NO molecules at the ground state without excitation.
Photoelectron momentum distribution of tunnel ionized Xe atoms. Due to the rescattering process, the photoelectrons are accelerated with a strong dependence on the carrier-envelope phase. HCO(n) shows the electron trajectories at different half cycles as indicated in the insets.

Publications and Research Highlights