Attosecond pulse retrieval from noisy streaking traces with conditional variational generative network.

Accurate characterization of an attosecond pulse from streaking trace is an indispensable step in studying the ultrafast electron dynamics on the attosecond scale. Conventional attosecond pulse retrieval methods face two major challenges: the ability to incorporate a complete physics model of the streaking process, and the ability to model the uncertainty of pulse reconstruction in the presence of noise. Here we propose a pulse retrieval method based on conditional variational generative network (CVGN) that can address both demands. Instead of learning the inverse mapping from a streaking trace to a pulse profile, the CVGN models the distribution of the pulse profile conditioned on a given streaking trace measurement, and is thus capable of assessing the uncertainty of the retrieved pulses. This capability is highly desirable for low-photon level measurement, which is typical in attosecond streaking experiments in the water window X-ray range. In addition, the proposed scheme incorporates a refined physics model that considers the Coulomb-laser coupling and photoelectron angular distribution in streaking trace generation. CVGN pulse retrievals under various simulated noise levels and experimental measurement have been demonstrated. The results showed high pulse reconstruction consistency for streaking traces when peak signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) exceeds 6, which could serve as a reference for future learning-based attosecond pulse retrieval.