From quantum transitions to electronic motions

Abstract

Laser spectroscopy and chromoscopy permit precision measurement of quantum transitions and captures atomic-scale dynamics, respectively. Frequency- and time-domain metrology ranks among the supreme laser disciplines in fundamental science. For decades, these fields evolved independently, without interaction and synergy between them. This has changed profoundly with controlling the position of the equidistant frequency spikes of a mode-locked laser oscillator. By the self-referencing technique invented by Theodor Hänsch, the comb can be coherently linked to microwaves and used for precision measurements of energy differences between quantum states. The resultant optical frequency synthesis has revolutionized precision spectroscopy. Locking the comb lines to the resonator round-trip frequency by the same approach has given rise to laser pulses with controlled field oscillations. This article reviews, from a personal perspective, how the bridge between frequency- and time-resolved metrology emerged on the turn of the millennium and how synthesized several-cycle laser fields have been instrumental in establishing the basic tools and techniques for attosecond science.