Light-Matter Interaction in the Single-Cycle Pulse Regime with emphasis on the Investigation of Coherent X-ray Generation Processes

Due to recent advances in ultrashort optical pulse generation it is now possible to generate high-intensity pulses on a multi-millijoule to joule energy level and with pulse duration`s between 5 and 20 fs (1 femtosecond = 10-15s). These pulses present a novel tool for investigating the evolution of matter on unprecedented short time scales. When these pulses are focused, peak intensities of 1019W/cm 2 are obtained corresponding to electric field strengths of 1011V/cm. At such field strengths the atoms are decomposed into ions and electrons. The electrons are accelerated to high kinetic energies. During collisions with the ions, part of the electron energy is converted into x- ray radiation. these processes are of great interest from a scientific point of view as well as for technological applications. It is expected that this new generation of femtosecond sources is the key for realizing a long-standing research goal of laser physics namely, the efficient generation of coherent, short-wavelength radiation in the x-ray range. These x-ray sources will have a huge impact on a broad spectrum of research areas, such as biomedicine (investigation of cells with nanometer (1nm = 10-9 m) resolution and semiconductor technology (x-ray lithography allowing a further miniaturization of electronic devices). The research goal of this project is the theoretical analysis of matter exposed to high-intensity femtosecond pulses (in the "single-cycle" regime) with emphasis on the investigation of coherent x-ray generation processes.