Petahertz Polarimetry Using Tunneling Ionization

Abstract

Light–matter interactions are highly dependent on the precise polarization of the light’s electric field; accurate characterization of a laser pulse’s time-dependent polarization is therefore critical for ultrafast science. Conventional pulse characterization methods, however, have been developed for investigating linearly polarized pulses, and their polarization-sensitive extensions often rely on restrictive iterative reconstruction algorithms. Here, we demonstrate a field-resolved approach allowing the accurate characterization of an ultrashort optical pulse’s time-dependent polarization by using tunneling ionization as a polarization-sensitive temporal gate. Two inherently synchronized gating pulses are used to directly probe both orthogonal components of an arbitrarily polarized sample pulse’s electric field, allowing the Stokes parameters as well as the 3-dimensional electric field to be determined on a hundred-of-attoseconds timescale. We use the technique to reveal the often-overlooked polarization impurities induced by pulse post-compression and to demonstrate a novel transmissive minimum-dispersion polarization rotator uniquely compatible with few-cycle laser pulses. Because of its excellent sensitivity and temporal resolution, the technique will allow for a better understanding of both technologically relevant processes (such as post-compression, attosecond polarization gating, or all-optical polarization control) and fundamentally important phenomena (electronic properties of chiral molecules, including proteins and DNA). © 2025 Danyo T. Matselyukh et al. Exclusive licensee Xi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0).