Ultrafast look into atoms and molecules

Generation of the attosecond pulses. Physicists of the Max-Planck-Institute for Quantum Optics (Prof. Ferenc Krausz) produced light pulses lasting just approx. 80 attoseconds with ultrashort laser flashes. The laser pulses are focused on a neon gas target streaming out of a thin tube. The intense (ionizing) laser field induces electron oscillations in the neon atoms, which emit attosecond pulses of extreme ultraviolet light. Image: Thorsten Naeser