Single attosecond pulse generation from asymmetric molecules with a multicycle laser pulse

A new scheme for single attosecond pulse generation from asymmetric molecules with a multicycle laser pulse is proposed. It is shown that both even and odd harmonics are generated from the asymmetric molecules, and the attosecond pulses are produced every full cycle of the driving laser field rather than each half-cycle. By filtering the harmonics in the cutoff of the spectrum, a single attosecond pulse can be obtained with a multicycle laser pulse with a duration of 2 times longer than the few-cycle pulse conventionally used.     

氦原子在啁啾激光与中红外组合场中产生的单个阿秒脉冲

通过Crank Nicolson方法数值求解一维氦原子的含时Schrdinger方程,研究了啁啾激光与中红外激光形成组合场驱动氦原子发射高次谐波的特点.研究结果表明,在组合场驱动下,高次谐波平台区能得到很大的扩展,其截至位置得到大幅度扩展,对平台区不同阶次范围的高次谐波进行叠加均能得到单个的阿秒脉冲,最短可实现46 as的单个脉冲输出,经分析发现,中红外场的加入,不仅使高次谐波的平台得到扩展,而且提高了平台区前端的谐波强度.通过经典计算和对电离几率特点的讨论,解释了发生这种现象的原因.     

利用多周期空间非均匀啁啾场产生单个短阿秒脉冲

提出了一种直接生成单个短阿秒脉冲的有效方案.采用数值求解一维含时薛定谔方程,理论研究了多周期空间非均匀啁啾场驱动预激发氦离子的高次谐波辐射和阿秒脉冲的产生.结果表明：在空间非均匀啁啾场作用下,谐波截止可扩展至1050阶次,并且高于300阶次以上的谐波是连续的.由于连续谱来自单一量子路径的贡献,滤出连续谱上880-1120阶次的谐波,直接产生了一个脉宽为11.4 as的单个脉冲.通过增加驱动脉冲的持续时间,可获得一个脉宽短至10 as的单个脉冲.     

两束同色激光场和中红外场驱动氦原子在等离激元中产生的单个阿秒脉冲

通过数值求解一维氦原子由两束同色激光场和中红外形成组合场中的含时薛定谔方程,研究了氦原子在纳米等离激元中发射高次谐波的性质以及合成阿秒脉冲的特点.研究表明,在等离激元中氦原子在组合场驱动下发射的高次谐波相对于均匀场情况下截止位置会得到明显扩展,但等离激元对处在连续态电子的吸收效应会对高次谐波截止位置影响较大,通过改变激元的相对位置能明显提高其中一个轨道对谐波的贡献,抑制另一些电子轨道的贡献.经典分析表明,两个电子轨道发生并合,从而实现单个阿秒脉冲的输出.与原子在均匀场驱动的情况相比,阿秒脉冲的宽度明显缩短,最短可实现28 as的单个脉冲输出.     

Generation of high harmonics and attosecond pulses with ultrashort laser pulse filaments and conical waves

Results illustrating the nonlinear dynamics of ultrashort laser pulse filamentation in gases are presented, with particular emphasis on the filament properties useful for developing attosecond light sources. Two aspects of ultrashort pulse filaments are specifically discussed: (i) numerical simulation results on pulse self-compression by filamentation in a gas cell filled with noble gas. Measurements of high harmonics generated by the pulse extracted from the filament allows for the detection of intensity spikes and subcycle pulses generated within the filament. (ii) Simulation results on the spontaneous formation of conical wavepackets during filamentation in gases, which in turn can be used as efficient driving pulses for the generation of high harmonics and isolated attosecond pulses.     

Broadband attosecond pulse shaping

We use semiconductor (Si) and metallic (Al, Zr) transmission filters to shape, in amplitude and phase, high-order harmonics generated from the interaction of an intense titanium sapphire laser field with a pulsed neon gas target. Depending on the properties of the filter, the emitted attosecond pulses can be optimized in bandwidth and/or pulse length. We demonstrate the generation of attosecond pulses centered at energies from 50 to 80 eV, with bandwidths as large as 45 eV and with pulse durations compressed to 130 as.     

阿秒电离门调控宽带超连续谱的传播特性

通过数值模拟三维传播方程研究了双色场阿秒电离门技术调控产生高次谐波的传播特性. 发现波长800和400 nm的5 fs双色场电离门调控产生的谐波在传播0.5 mm后由于短轨道满足相位匹配条件,实现了短轨道的选择,在平台区得到了高效率、无调制的宽带超连续谱（谱宽达80 eV）. 模拟不同传播距离的结果表明该连续谱能够在介质中稳定存在. 对该连续谱中60—90 eV的谐波直接进行滤波可以得到高效率、脉冲宽度约为135 as的单脉冲. 这种性质对实验上实现利用阿秒电离门调控产生高效率宽谱单阿秒非常有利. 关键词： 传播效应 阿秒脉冲 超连续谱     

Single attosecond pulse generation in the multicycle-driver regime by adding a weak second-harmonic field

We present a method of producing single attosecond pulses by high-harmonic generation with multicycle driver laser pulses. This can be achieved by tailoring the driving pulse so that attosecond pulses are produced only every full cycle of the oscillating laser field rather than every half-cycle. It is shown by classical and quantum-mechanical model calculations that even a minor addition (1%) of phase-locked second-harmonic light to the 800 nm fundamental driver pulse for high-harmonic generation leads to a major (15%) difference in the maximum kinetic energies of the recombining electrons in adjacent half-cycles.     

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.     

不同激光等离子体条件下的阿秒光脉冲产生

通过一维粒子模拟研究了利用相对论少周期强激光与固体密度等离子体表面相互作用实现单个孤立阿秒光脉冲产生的参数条件。主要研究描述相互作用的多维参数,如激光强度、入射角和等离子体标尺长度等,对相对论高次谐波能量转换效率和孤立阿秒光脉冲分离度的影响。研究发现,虽然激光等离子体参数对阿秒光脉冲产生的影响是复杂的,但是存在着能够实现大能量孤立阿秒光脉冲的最佳等离子体标尺长度和最佳入射角。当其他相互作用条件确定时,使用中等强度的相对论强激光可以在较宽的参数范围内实现孤立的阿秒光脉冲。大角度入射时,孤立阿秒光脉冲的分离度较高,能够实现孤立阿秒光脉冲的相互作用参数范围也较宽。     

Production of intense attosecond vector beam pulse trains based on harmonics

We provide the first report on the harmonics generated by an intense femtosecond vector beam that is normally incident on a solid target. By using 2D particle-in-cell(PIC) codes, we observe the third and the fifth harmonic signals with the same vector structure as the driving beam, and obtain an attosecond vector beam pulse train. We also show that the conversion efficiencies of the third and the fifth harmonics reach their maxima for a plasma density of four times the critical density due to the plasma resonating with the driving force. This method provides a new means of generating intense extreme ultraviolet(XUV) vector beams via ultra-intense laser-driven harmonics.     

Electron Dynamics and Characteristics of Attosecond Electromagnetic Emissions in Relativistic Laser-Plasma Interactions

Generation of attosecond electromagnetic(EM) pulses and the associated electron dynamics are studied using particle-in-cell simulations of relativistic laser pulses interacting with over-dense plasma foil targets. The interaction process is found to be so complicated even in the situation of utilizing driving laser pulses of only one cycle. Two electron bunches closely involved in the laser-driven wavebreaking process contribute to attosecond EM pulses through the coherent synchrotron emission process whose spectra are found to follow an exponential decay rule. Detailed investigations of electron dynamics indicate that the early part of the reflected EM emission is the high-harmonics produced through the relativistic oscillating mirror mechanism. High harmonics are also found to be generated through the Bremsstrahlung radiation by one electron bunch that participates in the wavebreaking process and decelerates when it experiences the local wavebreaking-generated high electrostatic field in the moving direction.     

中红外组合激光场调控宽带超连续谱的产生

本文对原子在波长为2000nm、脉宽为12.5fs的中红外驱动脉冲和脉宽为1.3fs的紫外控制脉冲叠加形成的组合场中产生的高次谐波进行了研究.通过组合场驱动氦原子得到了谱宽为230eV的超连续谱.利用组合场产生的谐波比单独利用中红外脉冲产生的谐波的强度高了3个量级.对超连续谱进行滤波并调节组合场中两束激光的延迟时间,可以直接产生100as的单个脉冲.我们发现超连续谱的宽度和位置几乎不会因为驱动场和控制场强度的变化而改变,这种性质有利于从实验上获得单个宽谱阿秒脉冲.     

Isolated attosecond pulses using a detuned second-harmonic field

Calculations are presented for the generation of an isolated attosecond pulse in a multicycle two-color strong-field regime. We show that the recollision of the electron wave packet can be confined to half an optical cycle using pulses of up to 40 fs in duration. The scheme is proven to be efficient using two intense beams, one producing a strong field at omega and the other a strong field detuned from 2omega. The slight detuning deltaomega of the second harmonic is used to break the symmetry of the electric field over many optical cycles and provides a coherent control for the formation of an isolated attosecond pulse.     

啁啾激光与半周期脉冲形成的组合场驱动原子产生单个阿秒脉冲

提出了由波长为800 nm、脉冲宽度为5 fs的啁啾激光与半周期脉冲形成组合场,并利用这种组合场驱动一维模型氦原子获得单个阿秒脉冲. 通过数值求解一维氦原子的含时薛定谔方程,发现氦原子在组合场驱动下高次谐波谱的截止位置可以扩展到I_p+21.6U_p. 对第二平台区域不同范围内高次谐波的叠加都能得到单个阿秒脉冲,最短可达37 as,特别是对平台区域的前端进行叠加不仅能够得到较短的单个阿秒脉冲,而且与截止位置附近高次谐波构造的阿秒脉冲相比,强度提高了3个数量级. 关键词： 啁啾激光场 半周期脉冲 高次谐波 阿秒脉冲     

Attosecond angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy

We report experiments on the characterization of a train of attosecond pulses obtained by high-harmonic generation, using mixed-color (XUV+IR) atomic two-photon ionization and electron detection on a velocity map imaging detector. We demonstrate that the relative phase of the harmonics is encoded both in the photoelectron yield and the angular distribution as a function of XUV-IR time delay, thus making the technique suitable for the detection of single attosecond pulses. The timing of the attosecond pulse with respect to the field oscillation of the driving laser critically depends on the target gas used to generate the harmonics.     

Efficient generation of highly elliptically polarized attosecond pulses

We theoretically demonstrate a scheme to efficiently generate attosecond pulses with high ellipticity by a counter-rotating bicircular field with frequency ratio of 1 : 3 (800 + 267 nm) and 1 : 4 (1600 + 400 nm). It is shown that efficient attosecond pulses with high ellipticity of 0.54 (800 + 267 nm) and 0.79 (1600 + 400nm) can be generated. We also investigate the scaling law of high harmonic generation yield. It is shown that the intensity of the high harmonics can be increased by more than one order of magnitude in the bicircular fields with higher frequency ratios. The high ellipticity and high efficiency of high harmonics are explained by analyzing the symmetry of driving field and the classical electron trajectories.     

Asymmetric molecular harmonic assisted generation of the attosecond X-ray pulse

In this paper, we theoretically investigate the asymmetric molecular high-order harmonic emission and the attosecond X-ray pulse generation when the asymmetric molecular HeH²⁺ ion is exposed to an intense chirped pulse. It is found that the molecular harmonics are strongly dependent on the internuclear distance R as well as the chirp parameter, showing a smooth and intense harmonic plateau at R = 8.0 a.u. and β = 0.4. Further, by adding a subharmonic controlling pulse with the optimised conditions, a supercontinuum with a bandwidth of 602 eV can be obtained. Finally, by properly superposing the selected harmonics in the supercontinuum region, a series of isolated X-ray pulses with durations of sub-80 as are directly generated.     

Generation of Near-Circularly Polarized Attosecond Pulse with Tunable Helicity by Unidirectionally Rotating Laser Field

A method to produce circularly polarized attosecond pulses with tunable helicity from CO molecule by using an unidirectionally rotating laser field is proposed. It is found that broadband harmonic supercontinuum with circular polarization can be generated from the oriented CO molecule. This enables the production sub-100 attosecond isolated pulse with the ellipticity as high as 0.9 at the macroscopic level. Moreover, the helicity of the generated high-order harmonics and the attosecond pulse can be tuned by adjusting the orientation of the CO molecule. This method will be beneficial for the studies on chiral-specific dynamics and magnetic circular dichroism on an attosecond time scale.     

非平行偏振双色场驱动产生脉宽稳定的单个宽谱阿秒脉冲

提出一种直接得到脉宽稳定的单个宽谱阿秒脉冲的新方法.利用波长为800 nm脉宽为5 fs的超短脉冲叠加上偏振方向与主脉冲成π/3,脉宽同样为5 fs的二次谐波脉冲驱动氦原子,可以得到宽度达到50 eV的超连续谱.当二次谐波的强度大于10¹⁴ W/cm²时,超连续谱的位置以及谱宽几乎不会随着二次谐波脉冲的强度的改变而改变.对85—125 eV的超连续谱进行滤波可以直接得到100 as左右的单个阿秒脉冲,这个性质对于实验上获得单个宽谱阿秒脉冲而言是非常有利的. 关键词： 阿秒脉冲 超连续谱