Attosecond Molecular Dynamics and Spectroscopy

This chapter presents an overview of the state of the art in attosecond time-resolved spectroscopy. The theoretical foundations of strong-field light–matter interaction and attosecond pulse generation are described. The enabling laser technologies are reviewed from chirped-pulse amplification and carrier-envelope-phase stabilization to the generation and characterization of attosecond pulses. The applications of attosecond pulses and pulse trains in electron- or ion-imaging experiments are presented, followed by attosecond electron spectroscopy in larger molecules. After this, high-harmonic spectroscopy and its applications to probing charge migration on attosecond time scales is reviewed. The rapidly evolving field of molecular photoionization delays is discussed. Finally, the applications of attosecond transient absorption to probing molecular dynamics are presented.