Coherent Control of the nonlinear response in resonant nanostructures

Remarkable breakthroughs in science throughout history are inherently linked to advances in the study of light-matter interactions. The understanding of new physical concepts and the development of novel optical tools were the driving forces behind ground-breaking multi-disciplinary discoveries in a variety of research fields. For the past two decades we have witnessed major advances in nano-optics and ultrafast physics, allowing for the exploration of phenomena in higher spatial and temporal resolution than ever before. In my talk, I will present recent achievements of observation and control of ultrafast phenomena at the nanoscale. In particular, I will share our recent achievements in combining ultrabroadband sources with our scattering near field microscope allowing observation of the broad frequency response as well as the ultrafast transient dynamics of plasmonic systems. I will share experimental demonstration of coherent control of the nonlinear response of optical second harmonic generation in resonant nanostructures beyond the weak-field regime. Contrary to common perception, we show that maximizing the intensity of the pulse does not yield the strongest nonlinear exponential response. We show that this effect emerges from the temporally asymmetric photo-induced response in a resonant mediated non-instantaneous interaction, opening new and diverse applications for control of optical nonlinearities at the nanoscale.