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Attosecond Magnetic Field Pulse Generation by Intense Few Cycle Circularly Polarized UV Pulses

Intense attosecond magnetic field pulses are predicted to be produced by intense few cycle circularly polarized UV pulses. Numerical solutions of the time dependent Schrödinger equation for H$_2^+$ are used to study the dynamical process. Spiralling attosecond circular electron wave packets are created with nanometer molecular dimensions, thus generating magnetic fields of several tens of Teslas ($10^5$ Gauss). Simulations show that the induced magnetic field is critically dependent on the pulse wavelength $λ$ and pulse duration $nτ$ ($n$ number of cycle) as predicted by a classical model. For ultrashort few cycle circularly polarized attosecond pulses, molecular orientation influences the generation of the induced magnetic fields as a result of preferential ionization perpendicular to the molecular axis.