Attosecond delay lines are key to enable time-resolved measurements on atoms, molecules, plasma and solid-state materials. This tutorial review presents the current status of a wide variety of attosecond delay lines operating from the infrared to the X-ray spectral region. Depending on the wavelength regime of the pump and probe pulses, we have divided attosecond delay lines into four broad categories: IR–IR, XUV–IR, XUV–XUV and X-ray–X-ray delay lines. Further, the designs differ as to whether they are based on amplitude division or wavefront division of the laser beam. We discuss the design ideas, compactness, calibration and stability of various attosecond delay lines and compare their performance in corresponding experiments. Applications of the delay lines to resolve selected attosecond phenomena are shown along with future perspectives towards achieving zeptosecond resolution.

阿秒延迟线是对原子、分子、等离子体和固态材料进行时间分辨测量的关键。本教程回顾介绍了从红外到 X 射线光谱区域运行的各种阿秒延迟线的当前状态。根据泵浦和探测脉冲的波长范围，我们将阿秒延迟线分为四大类：IR-IR、XUV-IR、XUV-XUV 和 X 射线-X 射线延迟线。此外，设计不同在于它们是基于激光束的幅度分割还是波前分割。我们讨论了各种阿秒延迟线的设计思想、紧凑性、校准和稳定性，并在相应的实验中比较了它们的性能。