Generalized molecular orbital tomography

The emission of coherent XUV radiation from atomic or molecular gases exposed to intense infrared laser pulses, known as high harmonic generation, is of paramount interest in atomic and molecular physics as well as in attosecond science. The emitted radiation contains a wealth of information about the structure of its generating medium, which inspired vigorous efforts to tomographically image the valence orbital of atoms and molecules. The orbital retrieval is nevertheless seriously hindered by the complexity of the harmonic emission process, as recently demonstrated by several theoretical and experimental works. Here we present a novel approach for molecular orbital tomography that contributes to overcome those difficulties, opening intriguing perspectives on coherent XUV imaging of complex species by high-order harmonic generation.