Field-Resolved Optical Spectroscopy and Microscopy

Light in the UV, visible (VIS), and near-infrared (NIR) frequency ranges is a powerful
tool for exploring and understanding the world around us. In fields such as Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science, Biochemistry, and Biomedical Sciences, techniques like optical absorption, photoluminescence (PL), light scattering, and Raman scattering are commonly used to study material properties, monitor chemical reactions, image cells, and diagnose diseases. Despite the diversity of these techniques, they all share a common principle: using UV-Vis-NIR light to interact with samples and detecting the presence or absence of photons.

Over the past two decades, the technique of electro-optical sampling has enabled the sampling of terahertz (Thz, 1012Hz) light waveforms, resulting in significant
advancements in Thz spectroscopy. However, UV-VIS-NIR light, which falls within the petahertz regime (1015Hz), has remained elusive in terms of waveform sampling.

In this talk I will discuss recent results from my groups where we demonstrate that is is possible to sample the electric field of ultrafast optical pulses with 30 attosecond (as,10-18s) time resolution, without the need for Carrier-Envelope Phase (CEP)
stabilization. Using this we will present data from widefield optical imagaing experiments that measure the electric field passing through a sample with sub-100 attosecond time resolution. I will discuss why this platform might be a transformational tool to explore previously inaccessible