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  • Open Access

Control of attosecond photoemission time delays by quantum state interference

D. Bharti1,*, J. C. del Valle2, A. T. Bondy3, K. Bartschat3,†, R. Moshammer1, A. Harth1,4,‡, and T. Pfeifer1,¶

  • *Contact author: bharti@mpi-hd.mpg.de
  • †Contact author: klaus.bartschat@drake.edu
  • ‡Contact author: Anne.Harth@hs-aalen.de
  • Contact author: pfeifer@mpi-hd.mpg.de
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 043033 – Published 9 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/yjyp-kx19

Abstract

Scattering theory has long established that wave packets can experience time delays and advances, while developments in attosecond interferometry have made such temporal shifts experimentally accessible. They are encoded in the spectral phase of the emitted electron wave packet and are commonly accessed through interferometric techniques. Here, we report an intensity-driven reversal of the angular phase of a threshold photoelectron sideband in helium. By varying the intensity of an infrared dressing field, we control the direction of the phase change at large emission angles, which is associated with interference between partial waves near angular nodes. Solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation within the single-active-electron approximation confirms the existence of an angular phase inversion. Our results reveal a mechanism for manipulating the angular phase structure of photoelectron wave packets over a large range via laser-induced interference.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 043033– Published 9 October, 2026
  • Received 26 January 2026
  • Accepted 4 September 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI. Open access publication funded by Max Planck Society.

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