Control of the intensity of a single harmonic generated in laser plasma by varying the chirp of intense femtosecond pulses

A significant increase, as well as a decrease, in the intensity of single higher harmonics of femtosecond radiation of a Ti:sapphire laser that are generated in a weakly excited laser plasma on the surface of GaAs, Cr, InSb, In, and stainless steel is demonstrated. The intensities of some higher harmonics in different regions of their plateaulike distribution varied from a 23-fold excess over the intensity of the neighboring harmonics to the complete absence in the extreme ultraviolet spectrum. The specific features of a 200-fold increase in the intensity of the 13th harmonic generated in indium plasma are analyzed. These variations in the intensity distribution of harmonics in the plateau region are obtained by varying the chirp of laser pulses.     

Generation of non-integer high-order harmonics and significant enhancement of harmonic intensity

High-order harmonics from helium atom in the orthogonally two-color(OTC) laser field are investigated by solving the two-dimensional time-dependent Schrodinger equation.Non-integer high-order harmonics are obtained in some ratio of frequencies of two components.Pure odd and even harmonics from atoms could be separated in two components by adjusting the ratio of frequencies in OTC scheme,and the resolution of harmonics is improved at the same time.The physical mechanism is explained by the periodicity of dipole.With the same intensity of the incident laser,the intensity of the high-order harmonics from the OTC field scheme is improved by three orders of magnitude compared to the monochromatic laser field scheme.A theoretical scheme is provided for experimentally achieving improving energy resolution and separation of pure odd and even harmonics in atoms.Also,we provide a means for improving harmonic intensity.     

The second plateau in the distribution of high harmonics generated in plasma torches

The second plateau in the intensity distribution of high harmonics generated in cadmium, chromium, manganese, and vanadium plasmas is observed. The characteristic plateau-like distribution of harmonic intensities, which was observed at comparatively low excitations of surface plasma, changes at higher energies of a prepulse that generates the plasma torch. The appearance of the second plateau is associated with harmonic generation due to the interaction with doubly charged plasma ions. The intensity of harmonics of the second plateau is either somewhat lower or comparable with the intensity of harmonics of the first order. The observed modification of the generated radiation spectrum caused by changes in the laser plasma characteristics allowed us to increase the maximum order of generated harmonics such that they fall into the far ultraviolet region. In particular, harmonics up to the 73rd (Cd), 75th (V), 83rd (Cr), and 95th (λ = 8.3 nm, Mn) orders are obtained.     

Strong resonance enhancement of a single harmonic generated in the extreme ultraviolet range

We report the demonstration of strong resonance enhancement of a single high-order harmonic in the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) region generated from the interaction of a femtosecond pulse with low-ionized In ablation. A strong 13th harmonic (61.2 nm) of Ti:sapphire laser radiation with output intensity almost two orders of magnitude higher than neighboring harmonics was observed in these studies. The high conversion efficiency of the 13th harmonic (8 x 10(-5)) is attributed to multiple collisions of electron trajectories with the origin due to multiphoton resonance with the In ion.     

正交偏振双色激光场作用下高次谐波的椭偏特性研究

通过数值求解二维含时薛定谔方程，理论研究了正交偏振双色激光场作用下H2+分子高次谐波发射和孤立阿秒脉冲的产生. 数值结果显示，改变激光场的强度比，可以调控高次谐波强度以及谐波椭偏率. 结果表明随着场强比的增加，y方向的谐波强度不断提高. 当场强比为1:2.5时，x方向和y方向分别仅有奇次谐波和偶次谐波产生，并且偶次谐波的强度比奇次谐波强度高2-3个数量级. 此时，奇次谐波的椭偏率最大可以达到0.3，偶次谐波的椭偏率接近于0. 此外，通过改变分子的准直角可以控制谐波的椭偏率，基于这一现象，利用椭圆偏振高次谐波的平台区合成了椭偏率为0.05的椭圆偏振阿秒脉冲链.     

中红外组合激光场产生低于50阿秒的单个脉冲

研究了氦离子在中红外组合激光场作用下的高次谐波辐射和孤立阿秒脉冲的产生. 研究结果表明,当主脉冲强度相对低时,谐波截止在657阶次处,形成一个宽度为287 eV的连续谱. 当主脉冲强度相对高时,可使谐波截止拓展到1795阶次,连续谱加宽到834 eV. 在两种情况下,我们实现了长量子路径选取,并且产生转换效率较高的连续谱. 特别是对于相对高的激光强度,叠加450—1590阶次内任意87 eV的谐波都可以直接得到50 as以内的单个脉冲.     

Influence of an ambipolar field and target boundary blurring on transition radiation from fast electrons of laser plasma

It is shown that the blurring of the rear side of a thin laser target leads to a decrease in the intensity of higher harmonics in the spectrum of coherent transition radiation and that the scale of the boundary inhomogeneity can be estimated from the amplitude ratio of harmonics. Deceleration of the electron flow in an ambipolar electric field at the rear boundary of a target leads to a decrease in the intensity of lower harmonics in the spectrum of coherent transition radiation, and the strength of the ambipolar field can be estimated from the amplitude ratio of harmonics. A change in the permittivity of a dielectric laser target with frequency can lead to an increase in the intensity of some harmonics in the spectrum due to the Vavilov-Cherenkov mechanism.     

High-order harmonic generation in laser plasma: Recent achievements

Recent studies of high-order harmonic generation of laser radiation in laser-produced plasma show new attractive developments in this field. Those include generation of extended harmonics in plasma plumes, new approaches in application of two-color pump, generation of extremely broadened harmonics, further developments in harmonic generation in clusters (fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, in-situ produced nanoparticles), destructive interference of harmonics from different emitters, resonance-induced enhancement of harmonics, applications of high pulse repetition rate lasers for the enhancement of average power of generating harmonics, observation of quantum path signatures, etc. We review some of these recent developments.     

Yield enhancement of elliptical high harmonics driven by bicircular laser pulses

We theoretically investigate the yield enhancement of elliptical high harmonics in the interaction of molecules with bicircular laser pulses by solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation. It is shown that by adjusting the relative intensity ratio of the two bicircular field components in specific ranges the yield of the molecular high harmonics for the plateau and cutoff regions can be respectively enhanced. To analyze this enhancement phenomenon, we calculate the weights of the electron classical trajectories. Additionally, we also study the ellipticity distribution of harmonics for different intensity ratios. We find that these enhanced harmonics are elliptically polarized, which we mainly attribute to the recombination dipole moment of the major weighted trajectories. These enhanced elliptical extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray radiations may serve as essential tools for exploring the ultrafast dynamics in magnetic materials and chiral media.     

High harmonic generation in a laser plasma

The results of investigation of high harmonics of radiation of a Ti:sapphire laser propagating through a laser plasma generated on the surface of different targets are presented. For most of the targets, the intensity distribution of the high harmonics generated is found to form a plateaulike pattern similar to that observed in the case of gas jets. The generation of high harmonics (up to the 65th harmonic, λ = 12.24 nm) is caused by the interaction of femtosecond laser radiation with ions. The conversion efficiency in the plateau region varies from 10^?7 to 8 × 10^?5 depending on the target. The main restriction on the conversion efficiency and the peak intensity of the harmonics generated is caused by the self-defocusing of the femtosecond radiation due to free charge carriers formed as a result of tunnel ionization.     

Phase characteristics of high-order harmonics in the cut-off region

The behavior of the phases of high-order harmonics generated upon interaction of intense laser radiation with matter is investigated. Some specific features typical of the harmonic phases in the high-frequency part of plateau (cut-off harmonic phases) are found. First, the phase difference between neighboring harmonics is a constant value. The width of the spectral range in which this regularity occurs determines the minimum duration of the attosecond pulse obtained from these harmonics by the so-called amplitude gating technique. Second, it is shown that the phase of each harmonic in the cut-off region depends linearly on the laser intensity. The proportionality coefficient is the same for all harmonics in this region and proportional to the cube of laser wavelength. Thus, this dependence is especially important for generating high-order harmonics by lasers with a wavelength of few micrometers.     

Phase-matched enhancements of high-harmonic soft X-rays by adaptive wave-front control with a genetic algorithm

We demonstrate the enhancement of high-harmonic soft-X-ray generation by adaptive wave-front control of a 745-nm Ti:sapphire laser by use of a 59-channel membrane deformable mirror, combined with a genetic algorithm, for the first time to our knowledge. The harmonics ranging from 17 nm to 28 nm were enhanced by factors up to 13. The numerical calculations illustrate that the enhancements of the plateau harmonics are due to macroscopic phase-matching effect, whereas those of the cutoff harmonics are due to the increase in focal intensity. PACS 42.65.Ky     

High-order-harmonic generation: towards laser-induced phase-matching control and relativistic effects

We present a review of some recent results on high-order-harmonic generation, aiming at optimizing the photon flux to allow for future applications in extreme-ultra-violet non-linear optics. We first present new schemes to control phase matching of high harmonics in gases, by using the effect of the spatially varying atomic phase displayed by the high harmonics. An enhancement by a factor of 50 is observed in neon in conditions for which the gradient of the atomic dispersion balances the electronic dispersion. A new scheme to manipulate the laser field was demonstrated, and shown to improve phase matching. We then turn to high-harmonic generation by solid targets, and show that high harmonics generated by an intense 30-fs laser pulse remain collimated even at the threshold of the relativistic regime. Received: 5 December 2001 / Published online: 24 April 2002     

相位匹配法在毛细管波导中产生高次谐波的分析

在理论上研究了超短强激光脉冲与毛细管中惰性气体相互作用产生高次谐波的最佳相位匹配条件,在计算中发现了特定级次 相位匹配中截止驱动光强的存在。分析表明要想使高次谐波获得相位匹配,需要超短脉宽的驱动脉冲以及电离能大的气体工作介质。讨论了毛细管波导中的强场高次谐波选择性并指出了改善谐波选择性的措施。     

Nonadiabatic effects in the molecular high-order harmonic generation from two-center molecular ions

The nonadiabatic effects in the molecular high-order harmonic generation (MHHG) from H₂⁺ and its isotope have been theoretically investigated beyond the Born-Oppenheimer approximations. It is found that (i) due to the asymmetric contributions of the harmonic emission on the rising and the falling parts of the laser field, the frequency red-shifts in the MHHG can be found. As the initial vibrational state or the pulse intensity increases, the red-shifts of the harmonics are decreased and even the blue-shifts of the harmonics can be found in the higher pulse intensity with the higher vibrational state. With the increase of the pulse duration, the frequency red-shifts and the blue-shifts in the MHHG are decreased and enhanced, respectively. The shifts of the harmonics from the heavy nuclei are decreased compared with those from the light nuclei. (ii) Due to the coupling of the electron-nuclear dynamics, the non-odd harmonics can be produced at the larger internuclear distance. With the increase of the initial vibrational state or the pulse duration, the generations of the non-odd harmonics can be enhanced. As the pulse intensity increases, the intensities of the non-odd harmonics are first increased and then decreased at the much larger pulse intensity. Due to the slower nuclear motion, the generations of the non-odd harmonics are decreased as the nuclear mass increases. (iii) With the increase of the alignment angle of the molecule ions, the nonadiabatic effects in MHHG (including the shifts of the harmonics and the generations of the non-odd harmonics) are decreased.     

Harmonic emission spectra and attosecond pulse generation from helium atom driven by the mid-infrared nonhomogeneous field

The generations of the high-order harmonics and the attosecond pulses from helium atom driven by the mid-infrared symmetric and asymmetric nonhomogeneous field have been theoretically investigated. It is found that (i) due to the surface plasmon polaritons in the metallic nanostructure, the extensions of the harmonics from the positive and the negative laser amplitudes, or only from the positive laser amplitude can be found for the cases of symmetric and asymmetric nonhomogeneous fields, respectively. (ii) The wavelength scalings of the harmonic cutoff and the harmonic yield show that the harmonic cutoff and the harmonic yield can be extended and decreased with the increase in laser wavelength, respectively. However, due to the limit of the gap size of the nanostructure, the threshold value of the harmonic cutoff can be achieved for a given gap size of the nanostructure. (iii) By adding a weak terahertz field to the mid-infrared fundamental field with the asymmetric nonhomogeneous effect, the intensity of the harmonic plateau can be enhanced by one order of magnitude, showing a 1280?eV supercontinuum with the single quantum trajectory contribution. Finally, by properly superposing the harmonics, some attosecond X-ray pulses shorter than 35 as can be produced.     

Quantum interference of multi-orbital effects in high-harmonic spectra from aligned carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide

We investigate experimentally multi-orbital effects in high-order harmonic generation(HHG) from aligned CO_2 and N_2O molecules by intense femtosecond laser fields with linear and elliptical polarizations.For either of the aligned molecules, a minimum in the harmonic spectrum is observed, the position of which shifts to lower-order harmonics when decreasing the intensity or increasing the ellipticity of the driving laser.This indicates that the minimum originates from the dynamic interference of different channels, of which the tunneling ionization and recombination are contributed via different molecular orbitals.The results show that both the highest occupied molecular orbital(HOMO) and low-lying HOMO-2 in CO_2(or HOMO-1 in N_2O) contribute to the molecular HHG in both linearly and elliptically polarized strong laser fields.Our study would pave a way for understanding multi-electron dynamics from polyatomic molecules irradiated by strong laser fields.     

Generation of higher harmonics in laser plasma formed on the surface of a silver target

The results of investigation of the higher harmonics (from the 21st to the 61st order) of radiation of a femtosecond laser (793 nm, 48 fs) that are generated in silver plasma are presented. The changes in the shape and spectra of harmonics for different chirps of the laser radiation are studied. It is found that the wavelengths of harmonics generated in the region of the plateaulike distribution of the converted radiation intensity can be tuned. It is shown that the conditions of phase matching between harmonics and laser radiation are different for different modulations of the femtosecond pulse spectrum. The tuning range of the spectrum of the converted radiation in the region of lower harmonics, which lie in the beginning region of the plateau, is shown to amount to 0.8 nm.     

Strong emission from nano-iron using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy technique

In this paper, we report a strong enhanced emission from laser produced plasma in air from iron oxide nano-material in comparison with the corresponding bulk samples. The enhancement strength differs with different Nd:YAG laser harmonics wavelengths. The analysis showed that such enhancement increased exponentially with the plasma evolution time, while it declines as the laser fluence increased. Experimental data analysis clearly showed that the observed enhancement is mainly associated with the change in the plasma electron density. We claim that this strong enhanced optical emission from laser produced plasma is due to the surface plasmon resonant excitation preferably on nano-oxide materials. Such experimental findings could improve the laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy sensitivity down to extremely low concentrations.     

Generation of higher-order harmonics of chirped radiation from a titanium-sapphire laser in plasma generated by pulses of different durations

The frequency conversion of laser radiation in plasma created by pulses of different durations under conditions of the chirp variation of the radiation to be converted is investigated. It is shown that the chirp variation of the laser pulse during the generation of higher-order radiation harmonics of the femtosecond laser leads to a considerable change in the brightness, wavelength shift, and maximal order of generated harmonics. The long-and short-wavelength shifts of harmonics observed in these studies are attributed to the manifestation of a considerable concentration of free charge carriers in the plasma, as well as the self-modulation of the laser pulse. The generation of plasma by pulses whose durations vary from 160 fs to 20 ns is considered and it is shown that the generation efficiency of harmonics depends to a greater extent on the energy of the heating prepulse than on its intensity on the surface of a target to be ablated. The effect that the atomic number of the target has on the formation of optimal plasma at different delays between the heating prepulse and the femtosecond pulse to be converted is discussed.