Editor´s Pick: Strongfield electron spectra at ultrasharp gold needle tips

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To gain a deeper understanding of the physical processes, a close match between theory models and experimental evidence is necessary. In much of our work, we use very strong and very short femtosecond laser pulses to drive the emission and dynamics of electrons at nanometre-sharp metal tips. For tungsten tips, there have been a large number of publications in the past decades showing a good overlap between theory and experiment. In our current publication, we demonstrate high-resolution strong-field spectra of gold tips at two different wavelengths. These are ideal for comparison with theoretical models – but here for a different metal, which also has plasmonic properties. The editors of Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B liked this so much that our publication was chosen as Editor’s Pick – thank you!