Broadband Terahertz Wave Generation from Monolayer Graphene Driven by Few-Cycle Laser Pulse

We theoretically investigate the characteristics of terahertz(THz) radiation from monolayer graphene exposed to normal incident few-cycle laser pulses, by numerically solving the extended semiconductor Bloch equations. Our simulations show that the THz spectra in low frequency regions are highly dependent on the carrier envelope phase(CEP) of driving laser pulses. Using an optimal CEP of few-cycle laser pulses, we can obtain broadband strong THz waves, due to the symmetry breaking of the laser-graphene system. Our results also show that the strength of the THz spectra depend on both the intensity and central wavelength of the laser pulses. The intensity dependence of the THz wave can be described by the excitation rate of graphene, while wavelength dependence can be traced back to the band velocity and the population of graphene. We find that a near single-cycle THz pulse can be obtained from graphene driven by a mid-infrared laser pulse.     

Influence of the carrier-envelope phase of few-cycle pulses on ponderomotive surface-plasmon electron acceleration

Control over basic processes through the electric field of a light wave can lead to new knowledge of fundamental light-matter interaction phenomena. We demonstrate, for the first time, that surface-plasmon (SP) electron acceleration can be coherently controlled through the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of an excitation optical pulse. Analysis indicates that the physical origin of the CEP sensitivity arises from the electron's ponderomotive interaction with the oscillating electromagnetic field of the SP wave. The ponderomotive electron acceleration mechanism provides sensitive (nJ energies), high-contrast, single-shot CEP measurement capability of few-cycle laser pulses.     

The above-threshold detachment of negative ions in half-cycle laser field

We study partial detachment rate and photodetachment asymmetry of F⁻ detached by half-cycle linearly polarized laser field using numerical simulation. Similar to photodetachment for negative ions in few-cycle laser fields, we find that partial detachment rates of a couple opposite directions in the above-threshold detachment of F⁻ are not equal, the detachment is asymmetric. Furthermore, the photodetachment asymmetry degree increases with carrier-envelop phase (CEP) as the peak laser intensity becoming stronger or the pulse width becoming shorter. The maximal asymmetry degree is stronger with higher laser intensity. We confirm the effect of the CEP, laser intensity and pulse width on the above-threshold detachment of F⁻ in half-cycle laser fields. It provides a possible way to determine the CEP of half-cycle laser fields by measuring detached photoelectrons.     

Carrier-envelope phase measurement using plasmonic-field-enhanced high-order harmonic generation of H atom in few-cycle laser pulses

We investigate the plasmonic-field-enhanced high-order harmonic generation (HHG) of H atom driven by few-cycle laser pulses, by solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation (TDSE). Compared with the homogeneous field, HHG spectra generated by inhomogeneous field exhibit two-plateau structure. We analyze the origin of the two plateaus by using the semiclassical trajectory method. Our results from both classical and TDSE simulations show that the cutoffs of the two plateaus are dramatically affected by the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of laser pulse in the inhomogeneous field, even for a little longer pulse. Thus, we can determine the CEP of driving laser based on the cutoff position of HHG generated in the inhomogeneous field.     

周期量级飞秒脉冲电场在非线性克尔介质中的传输

采用时间转换法研究了周期量级飞秒脉冲电场在非线性克尔介质中的传输.由于周期量级飞秒脉冲电场的脉宽小于介质拉曼响应的特征时间,在传输过程中脉冲电场会发生剧烈的变形和分裂,并在频谱上观察到了强烈的拉曼感应频移和色散波.由于周期量级脉冲电场依赖于载波包络相位,发现在脉冲电场传输过程中,主脉冲电场和色散波电场的相位线性地依赖于初始脉冲的载波包络相位.     

激光驱动晶体发射高次谐波的特性研究

通过数值模拟激光驱动下电子在周期性势阱中的动力学行为, 研究了晶体在激光场中发射高次谐波的特性. 研究发现在一定的激光波长和光强驱动下, 晶体发射的谐波谱会呈现出双平台结构, 经分析后得知第一个平台主要来自于最低导带与价带间的电流(电子-空穴对复合), 第二个平台主要来源于较高导带与价带间的电流(电子-空穴对复合), 且两个平台的截止位置处的能量都与激光场的振幅呈线性关系. 在少周期激光驱动下, 晶体谐波第二平台的截止位置与激光的载波相位呈单调变化, 由此我们提出可以利用晶体谐波第二平台的截止位置来确定少周期激光的载波相位. 进一步研究发现, 在啁啾激光驱动下, 晶体发射谐波谱的第二平台有较大变化, 第二平台的发射效率会随啁啾参数而改变, 能够通过改变啁啾激光场来提高晶体谐波第二平台的发射效率.     

All optical method for measuring the carrier envelope phase from half-cycle cutoffs

An all optical method is demonstrated for measuring the carrier-envelope phase （CEP） of few-cycle laser pulses. It is found that, in the few-cycle regime, the high harmonic spectrum generated from asymmetric molecules shows several half-cycle cutoffs that change their positions as the CEP varies. Such half-cycle cutoffs represent the fingerprint of different quantum trajectories and the waveform of the driving pulse. In this case, the CEP can be accurately measured from the half-cycle cutoffs.     

Ionization of atoms by few-cycle EUV laser pulses: carrier-envelope phase dependence of the intra-pulse interference effects

We have investigated the ionization of the H atom by intense few-cycle laser pulses, in particular the intra-pulse interference effects, and their dependence on the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of the laser pulse. In the final momentum distribution of the continuum electrons the imprint of two types of intra-pulse interference effects can be observed, namely the temporal and spatial interference. During the spatial interference electronic wave packets emitted at the same time, but following different paths interfere leading to an interference pattern measurable in the electron spectra. This can be also interpreted as the interference between a direct and a scattered wave, and the spatial interference pattern as the holographic mapping (HM) of the target. This HM pattern is strongly influenced by the carrier-envelope phase through the shape of the laser pulse. Here, we have studied how the shape of the HM pattern is modified by the CEP, and we have found an optimal CEP for the observation of HM.     

Effect of pulse duration on generation of attosecond pulse with coherent wake emission

High-order harmonics and attosecond pulse generation with coherent wake emission are theoretically investigated for the effect of pulse duration and carrier envelope phase (CEP) of few-cycle laser pulse. We find that short pulse duration will cause the negative chirp for the high harmonics. When the laser pulse is shortened to a few cycles, the influence of the laser CEP on the chirp of the harmonics will also become more prominent.     

Characterizing the polarity of a few-cycle infrared laser pulse

We demonstrate the characterization of polarity and carrier-envelope (CE) phase of a linearly polarized few-cycle infrared (IR) laser pulse (12?fs, 1.8???m) using Terahertz (THz) emission spectroscopy. Crossed polarizers electro-optic sampling geometry is applied to record temporal waveforms of far field THz emission from air filament driven by the few-cycle IR pulse. The THz waveforms are dependent on the carrier-envelope (CE) phase periodically. We confirm that the THz waveform and the intensity can be used jointly to determine the phase of a few-cycle laser field in laboratory frame.     

低强度周期量级脉冲驱动排列分子的非次序双电离

本文利用三维经典系综模型研究了低强度周期量级脉冲驱动排列分子的非次序双电离. 结果表明, 电子对的关联特性强烈地依赖于分子的排列方向和激光脉冲的载波包络相位; 垂直分子反关联电子对的比例总是高于平行分子反关联电子对的比例; 当载波包络相位从0到π 逐渐增加时, 反关联电子对的数目先增加再减少; 对于平行分子, 电子对的释放总是以正关联为主; 而垂直分子的主导关联模式则依赖于激光脉冲的载波包络相位, 当载波包络相位为0.3π-0.7π之间时, 电子对以反关联释放为主, 其他相位下以正关联为主. 本文利用分子势能曲线和电子返回能量很好地解释了电子关联特性对分子排列方向和载波包络相位的依赖关系.     

Carrier Envelope Phase Description for an Isolated Attosecond Pulse by Momentum Vortices

As a crucial parameter for a few-cycle laser pulse, the carrier envelope phase(CEP) substantially determines the laser waveform. We propose a method to directly describe the CEP of an isolated attosecond pulse(IAP) by the vortex-shaped momentum pattern, which is generated from the tunneling ionization of a hydrogen atom by a pair of time-delayed, oppositely and circularly polarized IAP-IR pulses. Superior to the angular streaking method that characterizes the CEP in terms of only one streak, our method describes the CEP of an IAP by the features of multiple streaks in the vortex pattern. The proposed method may open the possibility of capturing sub-cycle extreme ultraviolet dynamics.     

Studies on the mechanisms of powerful terahertz radiations from laser plasmas

A survey on the mechanisms of powerful terahertz (THz) radiation from laser plasmas is presented.Firstly,an analytical model is described,showing that a transverse net current formed in a plasma can be converted into THz radiations at the plasma oscillation frequency.This theory is applied to explain THz generation in a gas driven by two-color laser pulses.It is also applied to THz generation in a tenuous plasma driven by a chirped laser pulse,a few-cycle laser pulse,a DC/AC bias electric field.These are well verified by particle-in-cell simulations,demonstrating that THz radiations produced in these approaches are nearly single-cycles and linear polarized.In the chirped laser scheme and the few-cycle laser scheme,THz radiations with the peak field strength of tens of MV/cm and the peak power of gigawatt can be achieved with the incident laser intensity less than 10 17 W/cm 2.     

利用三色组合脉冲激光获得孤立阿秒脉冲发射

孤立阿秒脉冲因可以跟踪和控制原子及分子内电子的运动过程而备受关注.本文从理论上开展了氦原子在3束飞秒脉冲激光组合场辐照下产生的高次谐波和阿秒脉冲辐射的研究.组合激光场由16 fs/1600 nm,15 fs/1100 nm和5.3 fs/800 nm的钛宝石脉冲构成.与前两束脉冲合成的双色场产生谐波谱相比,附加钛宝石脉冲的三色场产生的高次谐波发射谱呈现出高转换效率及宽带超连续特性,超连续谱范围覆盖从230—690次谐波,傅里叶变换后实现了128 as高强度孤立短脉冲的产生.该结果归因于合成的三色场呈现出高功率及少周期的中红外飞秒脉冲激光特性,可以有效控制原子电离以及复合发生在中红外飞秒脉冲的一个有效光学周期内.     

High harmonic imaging of few-cycle laser pulses

We show that the strength of the central electric field peaks in a few-cycle laser pulse can be recovered from a frequency-time image of the high harmonic spectrum generated in a gas volume. Pulse intensity, duration, and also the carrier-envelope phase phi(CE) can be determined. A simple and robust observable is defined that provides a gauge of phi(CE) for pulse durations up to three optical cycles, corresponding to 7.8 fs FWHM at the Ti:sapphire wavelength of 800 nm.     

Generation of electromagnetic waves in the terahertz frequency range by optical rectification of a Gaussian laser pulse in a plasma in presence of an externally applied static electric field

We propose a theoretical model for the generation of electromagnetic waves in the terahertz (THz) frequency range by the optical rectification of a Gaussian laser pulse in a plasma with an applied static electric field transverse to the direction of propagation. A Gaussian laser pulse can exert a transverse component of the quasi‐static ponderomotive force on the electrons at a frequency in the THz range by a suitable choice of the laser pulse width. This nonlinear force is responsible for the density oscillation. The coupling of this oscillation with the drift velocity acquired by electrons due to the applied static electric field leads to the generation of a nonlinear current density. A spatial Gaussian intensity profile of the laser beam enhances the generated THz yield by many folds as compared to a uniform spatial intensity profile.     

Carrier-envelope-phase effect in nonsequential double ionization of Ar atoms by few-cycle laser pulses

A classical ensemble method is used to investigate nonsequential double ionization(NSDI) of Ar atoms irradiated by linearly polarized few-cycle laser pulses. The correlated-electron momentum distribution(CMD) exhibits a strong dependence on the carrier-envelope phase(CEP). When the pulse duration is four cycles, the CMD shows a cross-like structure, which is consistent with experimental results. The CEP dependence is more notable when the laser pulse duration is decreased to two cycles and a special L-shaped structure appears in CMD. Recollision time of returning electrons greatly depends on CEP, which plays a significant role in accounting for the appearance of this structure.     

Phase dependence of enhanced ionization in asymmetric molecules

We study enhanced ionization (EI) in asymmetric molecules by solving the 3D time-dependent Schr?dinger equation for HeH2+ driven by a few-cycle laser pulse linearly polarized along the molecular axis. We find that EI is much stronger when the laser's carrier-envelope phase is such that the electric field at the peak of the pulse is antiparallel to the permanent dipole of the molecule (PDM). This phase dependence is explained by studying the molecule in the presence of a static electric field. When this field is antiparallel to the PDM, the energy of the dressed ground state moves up (with increasing internuclear distance R) to cross with excited states, leading to a stronger ionization via intermediate state resonances and via tunneling. We predict analytically the laser and molecular parameters at which these crossings are expected to occur in any asymmetric molecule.     

Electron emission from metal surfaces by ultrashort pulses: determination of the carrier-envelope phase

The phase varphi of the field oscillations with respect to the peak of a laser pulse influences the light field evolution as the pulse length becomes comparable to the wave cycle and, hence, affects the interaction of intense few-cycle pulses with matter. We theoretically investigate photoelectron emission induced by an intense, few-cycle laser pulse from a metal surface (jellium) within the framework of time-dependent density functional theory and find a pronounced varphi dependence of the photocurrent. Our results reveal a promising route to measuring varphi of few-cycle light pulses (tau<6 fs at lambda=0.8 microm) at moderate intensity levels (I(p) approximately 10(12) W/cm(2)) using a solid-state device.     

采用双脉冲驱动产生高次谐波阿秒脉冲

提出了采用双脉冲机理来产生阿秒脉冲的方法.研究发现采用双脉冲不仅可以产生单个的阿秒脉冲，从而突破目前产生阿秒脉冲的驱动源（几个飞秒的超短激光脉冲）的能量限制，而且在相同的峰值强度下，双脉冲能够产生强度更高的阿秒脉冲. 关键词： 阿秒脉冲 双脉冲机理 高次谐波