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Understanding light-matter interaction is important for the control of energy and charge transfer at the fundamental level. Here the authors spatially resolve proton generation in laser-induced dissociative ionization of ethanol and water on SiO₂ nanoparticles and discuss the role of surface charge distribution.

Subfemtosecond selective breaking of chemical bonds—such as carbon-hydrogen bonds in organic molecules—can open up new routes for laser-driven synthesis. Here, the authors show directional control of proton ejection in a symmetric acetylene molecule.

Ionization delays from ethyl iodide around a giant dipole resonance are measured by attosecond streaking spectroscopy. Using theoretical knowledge of the iodine atom as a reference, the contribution of the functional ethyl group can be obtained.

Strong lasing effects similar to those in the optical regime can occur at 1.5–2.1 Å wavelengths during high-intensity XFEL-driven Kα₁ lasing of copper and manganese.

A continuum spanning from 300 and 3000 nm is used to synthesize a single-cycle field transient and measure its waveform through electro-optic sampling, speeding up this sensitive technique so that it can access the electric field of visible light.

Studying the dynamics of electrons is important for understanding fundamental processes in materials. Here the ionization of a pair of electrons in argon atoms is explored on attosecond timescales, offering insight into their correlated emission and the double ionization mechanism.

Terawatt-scale, sub-femtosecond, soft X-ray pulses have been demonstrated at the Linac Coherent Light Source using a superradiant cascaded amplification approach.

Accelerating electrons to high energy and controlling their properties on ultrafast timescales is challenging. Here the authors show controlled acceleration of electron bunches using forward scattering in the resonantly enhanced polarization field of silver clusters driven by a phase-tuned two-color laser field.

We introduce strong tailored light-wave-driven time-reversal symmetry breaking in monolayer hexagonal boron nitride, realizing a sub-laser-cycle controllable analogue of the topological model of Haldane and inducing non-resonant valley polarization.

A demonstration of attosecond control of the motion and directed emission of electrons from individual silica nanoparticles using few-cycle laser fields opens new possibilities to manipulate electronic processes in nanoscale systems.

Photoconductive sampling of optical fields is a powerful measurement technique, but existing models fail to connect single-electron dynamics to measured signals. Here, the authors report a model that identifies the roles of electron-neutral scattering and mean-field charge interaction in photoconductive sampling.

Time-resolved measurements of the X-ray photoemission delay of core-level electrons using attosecond soft X-ray pulses from a free-electron laser can be used to determine the complex correlated dynamics of photoionization.

Researchers have demonstrated the generation and control of subfemtosecond pulse pairs from a two-colour X-ray free-electron laser and conducted pump–probe experiments in core-ionized molecules.

Bone marrow-derived cells can rapidly enter the systemic circulation, but how this is achieved is unclear. Grüneboom et al. identify tiny capillaries, termed trans-cortical vessels (TCVs), that connect the bone marrow cavity to the systemic vasculature, and show that the majority of blood in long bones passes through TCVs.

The localized enhancement of laser light in optical near-fields of nanostructures enables the steering of ultrafast electronic motion. Here, the authors employ field propagation in nanospheres to obtain directional tunability and attosecond control of near-field-induced strong-field photoemission.

Photoemission from nanometre-scale structures offer a route toward ultrafast light-field-driven electronic nanocircuits. Here, the authors use attosecond streaking spectroscopy for nanoscale characterization of near-fields in the vicinity of tapered gold nanowires.

Researchers use plasmonic nanofocusing of near-infrared pulses in metallic tapered gap waveguides to generate ultrashort extreme-ultraviolet pulses. They calculate that the electromagnetic field intensity is around 350 times higher than that of a reference untapered waveguide, allowing harmonics up to the 43rd to be realized at a modest incident intensity of ∼10¹¹ W cm⁻².

The generation of ultrashort X-ray pulses with a peak power exceeding 100 GW offers new opportunities for studying electron dynamics with nonlinear spectroscopy and single-particle imaging.

Attosecond streaking is used to study the dynamics of electron scattering in dielectric nanoparticles in real time. Revealing the mechanisms involved is the first step towards understanding electron scattering in more complex dielectrics.

The H₃⁺ ion plays a key role in interstellar chemistry and can be formed from organic compounds upon interaction with charged particles or radiation. Here the authors demonstrate that H₃⁺ can also be formed from water adsorbed on silica nanoparticles exposed to intense laser pulses, conditions that mimic the impact of charged particles on dust in astrophysical settings.

A time-resolved observation of electron tunnelling and the short-lived electronic states that subsequently appear is useful as a new approach to obtain insights in multi-electron dynamics inside atoms and molecules. This technique of 'attosecond tunnelling' is applied to study the cascade of electronic transitions that occur in xenon atoms as a result of their ionization.

Conical intersections, a hallmark of polyatomic molecules, can be induced with light, leading to new reaction pathways. Here, the authors show that intense fields can create complex, beyond-conical intersections even in diatomics, resulting in an unexpected angular distribution of fragment ions.

Even for simple systems, the interpretations of new attosecond measurements are complicated and provide only a glimpse of their potential. Nonetheless, the lasting impact will be the revelation of how short-time dynamics can determine the electronic properties of more complex systems.

  Petahertz electronics uses sub-cycle currents from tailored optical waveforms for high-speed signal processing. This Review discusses progress towards the analogue age of petahertz electronics for optical waveform analysis and communication and provides an outlook toward digital petahertz electronics for classical and quantum computing.

Attosecond technology (1 as = 10⁻¹⁸ S) promises the tools needed to directly probe electron motion in real time. These authors report attosecond pump–probe measurements that track the movement of valence electrons in krypton ions. This first proof-of-principle demonstration uses a simple system, but the expectation is that attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy will ultimately also reveal the elementary electron motions that underlie the properties of molecules and solid-state materials.

Advanced X-ray-based, magnetic resonance and optical imaging technologies are capable of visualizing the complex architecture of bone and its blood supply. Clinical and experimental applications of these technologies and novel analytical methods are providing new insights into the structure and function of bone in health and disease.

Complementary multi-omics approach, in silico metabolic flux, and neuroimaging analyses link the sphingolipid pathway to Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis with therapeutic targets validated using behavioral assessments in amyloidogenic APP/PS1 mice.

Sequential light stimulation reduces the sensitivity of retinal ganglion cells via three different mechanisms which differentially affect ON and OFF cells.