Dynamics of Atoms & Molecules in Intense Laser Fields

Intense laser fields, comparable in magnitude with the Coulomb field within atoms and molecules, can be generated by focussing high-energy and ultrashort laser pulses. When exposed to such a strongly perturbing field, molecules exhibit various exotic features that cannot be observed in weak laser fields. We are seeking a deeper understanding of the behavior of molecules in intense laser fields, to elucidate how molecules interact with light, as well as to apply the new features they exhibit to the real-time visualization of ultrafast chemical reactions and their control. In particular, we focus on the following research directions: (A) Understanding of atomic and molecular dynamics in intense laser fields and the control (B) Ultrafast reaction imaging by laser Coulomb explosion imaging (C) Generation and application of ultrashort soft-X-ray pulses by laser high-order harmonics.