Area resonances in excitation and ionization of quantum wells by ultrashort sub-cycle electric field pulses

Summary form only given. Interaction of quantum systems with sub-cycle electric field pulses whose duration is much shorter than the systems evolution times is a new area in ultrafast quantum electronics with a great potential for novel effects. In particular, it may seem meaningless to ask whether an ultra-broad-band sub-cycle (non-oscillating) pulse can resonantly excite a particular quantum transition. As we show in the presentation (for a limiting case of a pulse that may be modeled by a /spl delta/-function of time), conventional frequency resonances are replaced for sub-cycle pulses by area resonances, which occur when the pulse area assumes specific values related to the electron eigenenergies.