Driven Atoms and Molecules as Coherent Attosecond Waveform Processors

Abstract

Advancing temporal resolution in computation, signal modulation, and quantum measurement is fundamentally constrained in optical resonator platforms by a trade-off between operation time and temporal resolution. We show that driven atomic and molecular systems perform temporal integration of resonant pulses via passive coherent absorption or stimulated emission, enabling attosecond resolution together with long operation time. We derive an analytic description of this mechanism through Bloch equations and time-dependent Schrodinger equation, finding quantitative agreement. We further identify feasible atomic transitions and excitation schemes accessible with current technology, and describe implementations for temporal differentiation and waveform generation at attosecond resolution. These results establish driven quantum transitions as a framework for attosecond-scale waveform processing beyond conventional resonator approaches, with potential applications in computation, optical switching, system control, and data transfer.