Temporal Superresolution Mapping of Ultrafast Coherent Dynamics in Terahertz-Assisted Laser Field

Quantum coherence is of potential applications from quantum computation using simple atoms to optimized energy transports in biomolecular complexes. Here, a time-resolved spectroscopic protocol exploiting a terahertz-assisted field locked with the probe pulse is proposed for full observations of the evolution of elements in transient density matrix. Coherence contributions of off-diagonal elements are detectable in the spotlight. The coherence dynamics for photoexcitation of hydrogen atom are explicitly demonstrated with significantly improved temporal resolution beyond the probe pulse duration. Present approach with improving time resolution and highlighting coherence dynamics displays potential applications for sub-femtosecond or attosecond time-resolved measurements in free electron lasers and tabletop laser fields.