Trajectory selection in high harmonic generation by controlling the phase between orthogonal two-color fields

We demonstrate control of short and long quantum trajectories in high harmonic emission through the use of an orthogonally polarized two-color field. By controlling the relative phase ? between the two fields we show via classical and quantum calculations that we can steer the two-dimensional trajectories to return, or not, to the core and so control the relative strength of the short or long quantum trajectory contribution. In experiments, we demonstrate that this leads to robust control over the trajectory contributions using a drive field from a femtosecond laser composed of the fundamental ω at 800 nm (intensity ～1.2×10(14) W?cm(-2)) and its weaker orthogonally polarized second harmonic 2ω (intensity ～0.3×10(14) W?cm(-2)) with the relative phase between the ω and 2ω fields varied simply by tilting a fused silica plate. This is the first demonstration of short and long quantum trajectory control at the single-atom level.     

正交偏振双色激光场作用下生成的孤立阿秒脉冲

我们理论研究了正交偏振双色激光场作用下的高次谐波发射和孤立阿秒脉冲的产生.当y方向加一束中红外激光脉冲(12.5 fs/2000 nm),x方向加一束强度较弱的激光脉冲(12 fs/800 nm)时,我们得到从250 eV到350 eV的超连续谐波平台,在平台范围内叠加50 eV的谐波,可以得到一个脉宽约为97as的孤立阿秒脉冲. 通过时频分析,我们解释了高次谐波发射的物理机制.     

High-throughput, high-damage-threshold broadband beam splitter for high-order harmonics in the extreme-ultraviolet region

We demonstrate a high-throughput and high-damage-threshold beam splitter for high-order harmonics in the soft-x-ray region that uses Si and (or) SiC plates set at Brewster's angle with respect to the pump wavelength. The beam splitters are guaranteed to have a damage threshold of at least 0.8 TW/cm2 (average power density, 0.25 W/cm2) and an attenuation rate of 10(-4)-10(-5) for a 30-fs pump pulse. The measured reflection efficiency at the 27th harmonic (29.6 nm) was 0.56 for Si and 0.45 for SiC. These beam splitters are useful not only for high harmonics but also for longitudinally pumped x-ray lasers.     

Isolated attosecond pulse generation from atom radiated by a three-color laser pulse

We theoretically investigate high-order harmonic and attosecond pulse generation from helium atom in a three-color laser field, which is synthesized by 10 fs/800 nm Ti-sapphire laser and a two-color field consisting of 30 fs/532 nm and30 fs/1330 nm pulses. Compared with harmonic spectrum generated by a monochromatic field, the harmonics generated from the synthesized three-color field show a supercontinuum spectrum with a bandwidth of 235 eV, ranging from the 154 th to the 306 th order harmonic. This phenomenon can be attributed to the fact that the ionization of atoms as well as motion of ionized electron can be effectively controlled in the three-color field. Therefore, an isolated 46-as pulse can be generated by superposing supercontinuum from the 160 th to the 210 th order harmonics.     

Dynamics of the critical surface in high-intensity laser-solid interactions: modulation of the XUV harmonic spectra

The generation of harmonics from the interaction of an intense (I>or=10(18) W cm(-2)) laser with a solid surface is investigated. Modulation of the harmonic emission spectrum with a periodicity of 2 to 4 harmonics is observed at higher laser intensities. A similar modulation is predicted by a particle-in-cell simulation. The modulation is shown to be caused by the higher modes of oscillation of the critical surface during the interaction. As a result, the dynamics of the critical surface can be inferred from the shape of the harmonic spectrum.     

Redshift in the optical absorption of ZnO single crystals in the presence of an intense midinfrared laser field

We report time-resolved electroabsorption of a weak probe in a 500 μm thick zinc-oxide crystal in the presence of a strong midinfrared pump in the tunneling limit. We observe a substantial redshift in the absorption edge that scales with the cube root of intensity up to 1 TW/cm(2) (0.38 eV cm(2/3) TW(-1/3)) after which it increases more slowly to 0.4 eV at a maximum applied intensity of 5 TW/cm(2). The maximum shift corresponds to more than 10% of the band gap. The change in scaling occurs in a regime of nonperturbative high-order harmonic generation where electrons undergo periodic Bragg scattering from the Brillouin zone boundaries. It also coincides with the limit where the electric field becomes comparable to the ratio of the band gap to the lattice spacing.     

Controlling the contributions to high-order harmonic generation from different nuclei of N_2 with an orthogonally polarized two-color laser field

The generation of high-order harmonic and the attosecond pulse of the N2 molecule with an orthogonally polarized two-color laser field are investigated by the strong-field Lewenstein model.We show that the control of contributions to high-order harmonic generation(HHG) from different nuclei is realized by properly selecting the relative phase.When the relative phase is chosen to be φ= 0.4π,the contribution to HHG from one nucleus is much more than that from another.Interference between two nuclei can be suppressed greatly; a supercontinuum spectrum of HHG appears from 40 e V to125 e V.The underlying physical mechanism is well explained by the time–frequency analysis and the semi-classical threestep model with a finite initial transverse velocity.By superposing several orders of harmonics,an isolated attosecond pulse with a duration of 80 as can be generated.     

Grating-assisted phase matching in extreme nonlinear optics

We propose a new technique for phase matching high harmonic generation that can be used for generating bright, tabletop, tunable, and coherent x-ray sources at keV photon energies. A weak quasi-cw counterpropagating field induces a sinusoidal modulation in the phase of the emitted harmonics that can be used for correcting the large plasma-induced phase mismatch. We develop an analytical model that describes this grating-assisted x-ray phase matching and predicts that very modest intensities (<10(10) W/cm2) of quasi-cw counterpropagating fields are required for implementation.     

High-order harmonic generation with a two-color laser pulse

We theoretically investigate the electron dynamics of the high-order harmonics generation process by combining a near-infrared 800 nm driving pulse with a mid-infrared 2000 nm control field.We also investigate the emission time of harmonics using time-frequency analysis to illustrate the physical mechanisms of high-order harmonic generation.We calculate the ionization rate using the Ammosov-Delone-Krainov model and interpret the variations in harmonic intensity for different control field strengths and delays.We find that the width of the harmonic plateau can be extended when the control electric field is added,and a supercontinuum from 198 to 435 eV is generated,from which an isolated 61-as pulse can be directly obtained.     

High-order harmonic generation with a two-color laser pulse

We theoretically investigate the electron dynamics of the high-order harmonics generation process by combining a near-infrared 800 nm driving pulse with a mid-infrared 2000 nm control field. We also investigate the emission time of harmonics using time-frequency analysis to illustrate the physical mechanisms of high-order harmonic generation. We calculate the ionization rate using the Ammosov-Delone-Krainov model and interpret the variations in harmonic intensity for different control field strengths and delays. We find that the width of the harmonic plateau can be extended when the control electric field is added, and a supercontinuum from 198 to 435 eV is generated, from which an isolated 61-as pulse can be directly obtained.     

Harmonic emission from the rear side of thin overdense foils irradiated with intense ultrashort laser pulses

The harmonic emission from thin solid carbon and aluminum foils, irradiated by 150 fs long frequency-doubled Ti:sapphire laser pulses at lambda=395 nm and peak intensities of a few 10(18) W/cm(2), has been studied. In addition to the harmonics emitted from the front side in the specular direction, we observe harmonics up to the 10th order, including the fundamental from the rear side in the direction of the incident beam, while the foil is still strongly overdense. The experimental observations are well reproduced by particle-in-cell simulations. They reveal that strong coupling between the laser-irradiated side and the rear side occurs via the nonlocal electron current driven by the laser light.     

量子路径控制生成宽频软X射线连续辐射谱

数值研究了双色激光脉冲与一维氩原子相互作用的谐波发射功率谱.双色激光脉冲由800 nm和1600 nm的两束激光组成,脉冲持续时间为9.7 fs.计算结果表明,相对相位为π时,谐波截止频率从单色场情形的58 eV大幅度地展宽到316 eV,获得频宽为93 eV的软X射线连续辐射谱.此外,还采用短程的普薛耳－特勒势和长程的软化库仑势进行比对,数值结果表明该连续辐射谱的存在具有普适性.通过半经典的“三步”模型和时频分析小波变换方法对该连续辐射谱进行分析,发现其主要由单一的“短”量子路径生成,直接叠加频率从22 关键词： 红外双色激光脉冲 连续辐射谱 阿秒脉冲     

Generation of an extreme ultraviolet supercontinuum in a two-color laser field

We theoretically investigate the high-order harmonic generation in a helium atom with a two-color optical field synthesized by an intense 6 fs pulse at 800 nm and a relatively weak 21.3 fs pulse at 400 nm. When the frequency-doubled pulse is properly time shifted with respect to the fundamental pulse, an ultrabroad extreme ultraviolet supercontinuum spectrum with a 148 eV spectral width can be generated which directly creates an isolated 65 as pulse even without phase compensation. We explain this extraordinary phenomenon by analyzing maximum electron kinetic energies at different return times.     

Bright quasi-phase-matched soft-X-ray harmonic radiation from argon ions

Selective enhancement (>10(3)) of harmonics extending to the water window (approximately 4 nm) generated in an argon gas filled straight bore capillary waveguide is demonstrated. This enhancement is in good agreement with modeling which indicates that multimode quasi-phase-matching is achieved by rapid axial intensity modulations caused by beating between the fundamental and higher-order capillary modes. Substantial pulse energies (>10 nJ per pulse per harmonic order) at wavelengths beyond the carbon K edge (approximately 4.37 nm, approximately 284 eV) up to approximately 360 eV are observed from argon ions for the first time.     

Vacuum ultraviolet frequency combs generated by a femtosecond enhancement cavity in the visible

We present the first (to our best knowledge) femtosecond enhancement cavity in the visible wavelength range for ultraviolet frequency comb generation. The cavity is seeded at 518 nm by a frequency-doubled Yb fiber laser and operates at a peak intensity of 1.2×10(13) W/cm(2). High harmonics of up to the ninth order (~57 nm) are generated in an intracavity xenon gas jet. Intracavity high harmonic powers of several milliwatts for the third harmonic order and microwatts for the fifth harmonic order prove the potential of the "green cavity" as an efficient ultraviolet frequency comb source for future spectroscopic experiments. A limiting degradation effect of the cavity mirrors is avoided by operating at a constant oxygen background pressure.     

Extending the High-Order Harmonics Plateau and Isolated Attosecond Pulse Generation in an Intense Three-Color Laser Field

We propose a method to extend the high-order harmonics plateau and generate an isolated sub-10-as pulse by adding a weak control pulse (10 fs, 1600 nm) to modify a two-color laser field (5 fs, 800 nm; 10 fs, 400 nm). The numerical results show that the plateau is extended obviously in the three-color laser field regime. Additionally, the ionization rate and classical returning kinetic-energy maps are calculated to better understand the physical origin of the high-order harmonics generation (HHG). By means of the ionization probability and the time-frequency distributions, more features of the HHG are revealed. Furthermore, our simulations show that the width of the plateau and the relative conversion efficiency of the harmonic spectra are highly dependent on the relative phase. Finally, by adjusting the relative phase and superposing a properly selected range of the HHG spectrum, an isolated attosecond pulse with a duration of 7 as is obtained.     

Strong-field above-threshold photoemission from sharp metal tips

We present energy-resolved measurements of electron emission from sharp metal tips driven with low energy pulses from a few-cycle laser oscillator. We observe above-threshold photoemission with a photon order of up to 9. At a laser intensity of ～ 2 × 10(11) W/cm2 the suppression of the lowest order peak occurs, indicating the onset of strong-field effects. We also observe peak shifting linearly with intensity, with a slope of around -1.0 eV/(10(12) W/cm2). We attribute the magnitude of the laser field effects to field enhancement taking place at the tip's surface.     

Laser phase control of high-order harmonic generation at large internuclear distance: the H+ -H2+ system

Exact (Born-Oppenheimer) 3-D numerical solutions of the time-dependent Schr?dinger equation are obtained for the one electron linear H+-H2+ atom-molecule system at large internuclear distance R in interaction with two-cycles intense (I>10(14) W cm(-2)) 800 nm laser pulses. High-order harmonic generation (HHG) spectra are obtained with an energy cutoff larger than the atomic maximum of I(p)+3U(p), where I(p) is the ionization potential and U(p) is the ponderomotive energy. At large R, this extended cutoff is shown to be related to the nature of electron transfer, whose direction is shown to depend critically on the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of the ultrashort pulse. Constructive and destructive interferences in the HHG spectrum resulting from coherent superpositions of electronic states in the H+-H2+ system are interpreted in terms of multiple electron trajectories extracted from a time profile analysis.     

Supercontinuous high harmonic generation from asymmetric molecules in the presence of a terahertz field

We have investigated high-order harmonic generation from asymmetric molecules. It is found that supercontinuous high harmonics,which are produced from asymmetric molecules by significantly steering the ionization,are broken down when the electric field of the 5-fs driving laser pulse is increased to 0.16 a.u. The high harmonic generation from asymmetric molecules with the presence of a terahertz field is also investigated. This reveals that the terahertz controlled laser pulse significantly increases the energy difference between photons,emitted from the ejected electrons,in the first and second halves of the optical cycle at the centre of the driving laser pulse. In this way,a 200-eV broadband supercontinuum can be produced in the plateau,from which a 60-as pulse with a bandwidth of 60 eV can be directly obtained with a minor post-pulse.     

Coherent wake emission of high-order harmonics from overdense plasmas

We present a new mechanism for high-order harmonic generation by reflection of a laser beam from an overdense plasma, efficient even at moderate laser intensities (down to Igamma2 approximately 4x10(15) W cm-2 microm2). In this mechanism, a transient phase matching between the electromagnetic field and plasma oscillations within a density gradient leads to the emission of harmonics up to the plasma frequency. These plasma oscillations are periodically excited in the wake of attosecond electron bunches which sweep across the density gradient. This process leads to a train of unevenly spaced chirped attosecond pulses and, hence, to broadened and chirped harmonics. This last effect is confirmed experimentally.