Research Topics:
The central theme of our experimental research program is the study of coherent electron and nuclear dynamics in molecules and nanomaterials. Coherent electron motion and the ensuing quantum dynamics set forth by either optical excitation or nonresonant strong-field ionization with few-cycle laser pulses will be probed with attosecond to femtosecond time resolution. This proposed work builds upon my previous work, in which coherent electron motion in Kr+ ions that accompanies the formation of a spin-orbit wave packet is observed (Nature, 2010).