Sampling Laser Waveforms using Tunneling in Solids

Characterizing the time-dependent electric field waveform of few-cycle laser pulses is a requirement for applications to attosecond science and other field-resolved spectroscopies. Recently, characterization techniques based on strong-field excitation have shown success in characterizing few-cycle pulses and waveforms ranging from the ultraviolet to mid-infrared. Unlike perturbative nonlinear optical techniques, these characterization methods do not rely on phase matching or retrieval algorithms, and they have been demonstrated to accurately characterize broad bandwidth pulses and sub-optical cycle field transients. Here, we extend one such technique, known as TIPTOE (tunneling ionization with a perturbation for time-domain observation of an electric field), to solid-state media. We show that tunneling and multiphoton excitation in a dielectric solid can provide an ultrafast temporal gate, as well as a simple detection scheme, for waveform characterization. The solid-state TIPTOE allows for full measurement of the electric field waveform from sources with relatively low pulse energies in comparison to the gas-phase TIPTOE. Furthermore, we experimentally demonstrate that the solid-state platform allows for single-shot, on-chip measurement of optical waveforms.