Attosecond physics at a nanoscale metal tip - strong field physics meets near-field optics

Attosecond physics, centering on the control of electronic matter waves within a single cycle of the optical laser's driving field, has led to tremendously successful experiments with atoms and molecules in the gas phase. We show that pivotal phenomena such as elastic electron rescattering at the parent matter, a strong carrier-evenlope phase sensitivity and electronic matter wave intereference also show up in few-cycle laser driven electron emission from nanometric sharp metal tips. Furthermore, we utilize spectral signatures to measure the enhanced near-field with a spatial resolution of 1nm.