Ultrafast Quantum Control of Electrons, Atoms, and Molecules 

ProfessorBucksbaum,Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor in Natural Science, studies time-dependent quantum processes in atoms and molecules, from the passage of electrons across atoms in a few hundredattoseconds(billionths of a billionth of a second), to the bending and breaking of molecular bonds during collisions or chemical reactions in a few picoseconds (millionths of a millionth of a second). These observations are made using novel laser sources, some of which are unique to Stanford. The world’s first X-ray free electron laser at theSLACNational Accelerator Laboratory began to operate in 2009.  It allows us to view atomic motion on the atomic time scale in both space and time for the first time.

Career History: 

• 2009-present: Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professorship in Natural Science
• 2005-present: Director, Ultrafast Science Center; Professor, Stanford University (Department of Applied Physics, and Department of Physics)
• 2004-2005: Visiting Scholar, Stanford Department of Applied Physics and Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory. Otto Laporte Collegiate Professor of Physics, University of Michigan Director of FOCUS, the NSFCenter for the Advancement of Frontiers in Optical Coherent Ultrafast Science Editor of VJUltrafast, the APS Virtual Journal of Ultrafast Science.
• 9/90-8/98 Professor of Physics, University of Michigan.
• 11/82-8/90 Principal Investigator Member of Technical Staff, Physics Research Division, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ 07974.
• 1/89-8/90 Adjunct Associate Professor of Applied Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027.
• 8/80-11/82 Post-doctoral research at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Holmdel, NJ 07733, and at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories, Berkeley, CA 94720.
• Ph.D. (1980) and M.A. (1978) in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720.
• A.B. (1975) magna cum laude in Physics, Harvard College, Cambridge, MA 0213

• Honors

  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2012
  • Member, National Academy of Sciences, 2004.
  • Michigan Sokal Award for Research, 2001.
  • Distinguished Traveling Lecturer, APS Division of Laser Science, 1996-97.
  • John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellow, 1996-97.
  • Michigan Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award, 1996.
  • Visiting Miller Professor, University of California at Berkeley, 1996.
  • Fellow of the American Physical Society, 1990.
  • Fellow of the Optical Society of America, 1995.
  • NSF Graduate Fellowship, 1975-78
  • Member of BESAC, the DOE Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee
  • Member of CAMOS, the NRC Committee on AMO Science
  • Divisional Associate Editor of Physical Review Letters for the Laser Science Division
  • Member of the Physics Today Advisory Committee
  • Chairman, APS Nominating Committee

  • More information on Prof. Bucksbaum  

    https://physics.stanford.edu/people/faculty/phil-bucksbaum 

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The time scale for internal motion in atoms and small molecules is determined by their Angstrom sizes and Rydberg binding energies to be femtoseconds or shorter. The binding fields for the outermost electrons are tens of volts per Angstrom, while inner electrons can be bound by kilovolts or more, with motion measured in attoseconds. I will describe recent experiments and new concepts designed to help us to understand the interaction of electrons, atoms and molecules utilizing laser fields on these scales of time, photon energy and field strength. Two kinds of laser sources are employed: Strong focused infrared lasers create these extreme conditions within a single optical cycle, and thereby induce atomic phenomena that evolve during fractions of a femtosecond. This is the regime of high harmonic generation and above-threshold ionization. X-ray free electron lasers can also produce these extreme fields, but at much higher oscillation frequencies. This is the regime of rapid inner shell ionization and Auger relaxation. Both types of strong-field phenomena induce dynamics on femtosecond or faster time scales. Our research seeks to understand this motion and reveal the underlying internal mechanisms responsible for it.