Following the award of the Nobel Prize for Physics to Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier, the comment by the director of the Institute of Photonics and Nanotechnology (CNR-IFN) Caterina Vozzi.

“The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier for their contribution to the generation of attosecond light pulses (1attosecond = 1 billionth of a billionth of a second) which enabled the study of the dynamics of electrons in atoms, molecules and matter. Electrons move in atoms at very high speeds. The study of their behavior allows the understanding of the fundamental principles that regulate the interactions of atoms with light or with each other. In order to observe such rapid phenomena it is necessary to have equally fast light sources, in the order of attoseconds, which are able to “capture” the “frames” of the motion of the electrons.

During the 1990s, Anne L’Hullier studied the phenomenon of high-order harmonic generation, which underlies the production of attosecond light pulses. In 2001, a group of researchers coordinated by Pierre Agostini managed to characterize the first train of attosecond pulses, while a group led by Ferenc Krausz measured the first single pulse.

The attosecond sources developed with this research have opened the way to understanding ultrafast phenomena in matter with potential applications ranging from the development of new materials to the understanding of the photoprotection mechanisms of DNA”.

The attoscience groups at CNR-IFN are proud to contribute to the community with our research on attosecond spectroscopy, high harmonic spectroscopy and the development of new XUV and softX light sources. 

From CNR-IFN we sincerely congratulate the three new Nobel Laureates and feel very honored that the Nobel committee has cited our work!

Here the official document, reference n.37:
https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2023/10/advanced-physicsprize2023.pdf