Multiphoton electron emission with non-classical light

Heimerl J, Mikhaylov A, Meier S, Höllerer H, Kaminer I, Chekhova M, Hommelhoff P (2024)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2024

Journal

DOI: 10.1038/s41567-024-02472-6

Abstract

Photon number distributions of classical and non-classical light sources have been studied extensively, yet their impact on photoemission processes is largely unexplored. In this article, we present measurements of electron number distributions from metal needle tips illuminated with ultrashort light pulses with various photon quantum statistics. By varying the photon statistics of the exciting light field between classical (Poissonian) and quantum (super-Poissonian), we demonstrate that the measured electron distributions are changed substantially. Using single-mode bright squeezed vacuum light, we measure extreme statistics events with up to 65 electrons from one light pulse at a mean of 0.27 electrons per pulse—the likelihood for such an event equals 10−128 with Poissonian statistics. By changing the number of modes of the exciting bright squeezed vacuum, we can tailor the electron number distribution on demand. Most importantly, our results demonstrate that the photon statistics is imprinted from the driving light to the emitted electrons, opening the door to new sensor devices and to strong-field optics with quantum light and electrons.

Authors with CRIS profile

Additional Organisation(s)

Involved external institutions

Technion - Israel Institute of Technology Israel (IL) Max-Planck-Institut für die Physik des Lichts (MPL) / Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Heimerl, J., Mikhaylov, A., Meier, S., Höllerer, H., Kaminer, I., Chekhova, M., & Hommelhoff, P. (2024). Multiphoton electron emission with non-classical light. Nature Physics. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-024-02472-6

MLA:

Heimerl, Jonas, et al. "Multiphoton electron emission with non-classical light." Nature Physics (2024).

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