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apr09-offprint-bandrauk.pdf

Attosecond (10^-18 s) is the time scale of electron motion in atoms and molecules. To image, visualize and control the electron thus requires attosecond (asec) laser pulses. The generation and characterization of such asec pulses from high order harmonic generation is the result of fruitful collaboration between theory and experiment on the nonlinear, nonperturbative response of atoms and molecules to short (few cycles) intense laser pulses. Attosecond science is thus a new science with the ultimate goal of finally controlling electrons in matter.