Carrier-envelope phase dependence of few-cycle ultrashort laser pulse propagation in a polar molecule medium

We theoretically investigate carrier-envelope phase dependence of few-cycle ultrashort laser pulse propagation in a polar molecule medium. Our results show that a soliton pulse can be generated during the two-photon resonant propagation of few-cycle pulse in the polar molecule medium. Moreover, the main features of the soliton pulse, such as pulse duration and intensity, depend crucially on the carrier-envelope phase of the incident pulse, which could be utilized to determine the carrier-envelope phase of a few-cycle ultrashort laser pulse from a mode-locked oscillator.     

高次谐波辐射光子的能量-激光相位关系研究

原子在强激光电场中高次谐波辐射的理论与实验研究是当今科学前沿之一.利用量子力学理论和鞍点方法,细致地研究了高次谐波辐射光子的能量与激光相位的关系.对于时间宽度无限长激光,在一个激光周期内特定相位处产生的高阶辐射(X射线)有特定的能量.能量分布在7180°处成峰,有高斯形函数的对称形状.给出了这种分布的参数化公式.对于不同宽度的飞秒激光,能量分布的成峰位置、最大值和带宽等参数会发生变化.计算表明,三个振荡周期(半高宽)的飞秒激光,当载波-包络相位为175°和105°时,可以分别得到纯净的阿秒单脉冲和双脉 关键词： 超短脉冲激光 高次谐波产生 鞍点方法 能量相位关系     

Coherent population control and three-pulse photon echoes: Their dependence on phase of excitation pulse

We discuss analytically here coherent population control and photon echoes of two-level atoms excited by two excitation pulses of different characteristics: (i) the excitation pulses with the same carrier-envelope phases and (ii) the excitation pulses, which are obtained by intensity-modulation of a continuous-wave laser beam and are free from incidental phase- and frequency-modulation. A perturbative calculation, which includes the effect of relaxations during pulse excitations shows that both the coherently controlled population and the echo field show considerably different behaviors depending on the characteristics of the excitation pulses. We also find that the peak position of the echo field can be controlled by adjusting the pulse widths of the excitation pulses.     

Carrier-envelope offset phase control: A novel concept for absolute optical frequency measurement and ultrashort pulse generation

The shortest pulses periodically emitted directly from a mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser are approaching the two-optical-cycle range. In this region, the phase of the optical carrier with respect to the pulse envelope becomes important in nonlinear optical processes such as high-harmonic generation. Because there are no locking mechanisms between envelope and carrier inside a laser, their relative phase offset experiences random fluctuations. Here, we propose several novel methods to measure and to stabilize this carrier-envelope offset (CEO) phase with sub-femtosecond uncertainty. The stabilization methods are an important prerequisite for attosecond pulse generation schemes. Short and highly periodic pulses of a two-cycle laser correspond to an extremely wide frequency comb of equally spaced lines, which can be used for absolute frequency measurements. Using the proposed phase-measurement methods, it will be possible to phase-coherently link any unknown optical frequency within the comb spectrum to a primary microwave standard. Experimental studies using a sub-6-fs Ti:sapphire laser suggesting the feasibility of carrier-envelope phase control are presented. Received: 19 August 1999 / Published online: 8 September 1999     

Single-shot measurement of a carrier-envelope phase by use of a time-dependent polarization pulse

We propose a method for single-shot measurement of the carrier-envelope phase of high-intensity laser pulses. The method is based on observation of the electrons' spatial distribution ionized by a time-dependent polarization pulse generated by a combination of replicas of the measuring pulse. The dependence of the electrons' angular distribution on carrier-envelope phase, pulse width, delay between two combining components, and a peak intensity is calculated. Important experimental issues such as broadening of the angular distribution, Gouy phase, difference between the two replicas, and asymmetric pulse shape are also discussed.     

Carrier-envelope phase effects of over-saturated few-cycle laser pulses on high-order harmonic generation

We investigate theoretically the high-order harmonic generation driven by few-cycle laser pulses with intensities above the saturated intensity using the Lewenstein model. It is found that the carrier-envelope phase of the laser pulse has great influences on the coherence of the high-order harmonic spectrum in the plateau region when driven by a relatively weaker driver field in the oversaturated regime. While for a much higher intensity the coherence of the high-order harmonic spectrum is almost independent on the carrier-envelope phase.     

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.     

Optical-to-THz wave conversion via excitation of plasma oscillations in the tunneling-ionization process

A new ("linear-parametric") mechanism of a direct conversion of an ultrashort laser pulse into terahertz radiation is suggested. The conversion is due to the ionization-induced excitation and the subsequent electromagnetic emission of the superluminous polarization wave created by the axicon-focused laser pulse. For a few-cycle pulse with an optimum carrier-envelope phase, the considered mechanism is found to be much more effective than the alternative one based on the excitation of plasma oscillations in the laser wakefield by the ponderomotive force and able to provide THz radiation of the gigawatt power level with the use of moderate optical intensity (approximately 10(14)-10(15) W/cm2).     

Carrier-envelope phase-dependent electron tunneling in a coupled double-quantum-dot system driven by a few-cycle laser pulse

We theoretically investigate the dependence of the electron tunneling on the carrier-envelope phase of a few-cycle laser pulse in a coupled double-quantum-dot system, and we show that the electron tunneling between coupled quantum dots is very sensitive to the carrier-envelope phase under a change of the parameters of the system. This in turn provides an additional means to measure the carrier-envelope phase of a laser pulse at lower laser intensity regime in the solid-state nanostructure.     

Ionization phase-match gating for wavelength-tunable isolated attosecond pulse generation

High-order harmonic emission can be confined to the leading edge of an 800 nm driver laser pulse under moderately intense focusing conditions (7×10¹⁴ W/cm²) (Pfeifer et al. in Opt. Express 15:17120, 2007). Here, the experimentally observed curtailment of harmonic production on the leading edge of the driver pulse is shown to be controlled by an ionization-induced phase-matching condition. The transient plasma density inherent to the process of high-harmonic generation terminates the harmonic emission by an ultrafast loss of phase matching on the leading edge of the laser pulse. The analysis is supported by a reconstruction of the in situ intensity envelope of the driver pulse with attosecond temporal resolution, performed by measurements of the carrier-envelope phase dependence of individual half-cycle harmonic cutoffs. The method opens the way to wavelength-tunable isolated attosecond pulse generation.     

Phase control of excitation of NV centers in diamond by ultra-short laser pulses

This Letter is a theoretical investigation of the excitation of NV centers in diamonds under ultra-short laser pulses with variable parameters. Calculations are based on the two-level approximation and Bloch formalism using dimensionless variables. The dependency of excitation probability on the carrier-envelope phase was examined for various values of electric field strength and pulse duration.     

Evidence for third-harmonic generation in disguise of second-harmonic generation in extreme nonlinear optics

In contrast with traditional nonlinear optics, a peak at the spectral position of the second harmonic of a laser can also be generated in an inversion-symmetric medium in the regime of extreme nonlinear optics. We describe the underlying mechanism of such third-harmonic generation in disguise of second-harmonic generation and compare theory with the optical as well as the radio-frequency spectra measured in recent experiments on thin ZnO films. The peak at twice the carrier-envelope offset frequency in the radio-frequency spectra is shown to be an unambiguous signature of such a process.     

Effects of the carrier-envelope phase in the multiphoton ionization regime

We theoretically investigate the effects of the carrier-envelope phase of few-cycle laser pulses in the multiphoton ionization regime. For atoms with low ionization potential, total ionization yield barely exhibits phase dependence, as expected. However, population of some bound states clearly shows phase dependence. This implies that the measurement of the carrier-envelope phase would be possible through the photoemission between bound states without energy-and-angle-resolved photoelectron detection. The considered scheme could be particularly useful to measure the carrier-envelope phase for a light source without an amplifier, such as a laser oscillator, which cannot provide sufficient pulse energy to induce tunneling ionization.     

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.     

Observation of carrier-envelope phase phenomena in the multi-optical-cycle regime

So far the role of the carrier-envelope phase of a light pulse has been clearly experimentally evidenced only in the sub-6-fs temporal regime. Here we show, both experimentally and theoretically, the influence of the carrier-envelope phase of a multi-optical-cycle light pulse on high-order harmonic generation. For the first time, we demonstrate that the short and long electron quantum paths contributing to harmonic generation are influenced in a different way by the pulse carrier-envelope phase.     

Control of electron excitation and localization in the dissociation of H2(+) and its isotopes using two sequential ultrashort laser pulses

We study the control of dissociation of the hydrogen molecular ion and its isotopes exposed to two ultrashort laser pulses by solving the time-dependent Schr?dinger equation. While the first ultraviolet pulse is used to excite the electron wave packet on the dissociative 2psigma{u} state, a second time-delayed near-infrared pulse steers the electron between the nuclei. Our results show that by adjusting the time delay between the pulses and the carrier-envelope phase of the near-infrared pulse, a high degree of control over the electron localization on one of the dissociating nuclei can be achieved (in about 85% of all fragmentation events). The results demonstrate that current (sub-)femtosecond technology can provide a control over both electron excitation and localization in the fragmentation of molecules.     

All-optical stabilization of carrier-envelope phase by use of difference frequency generation with seeded amplification of colored conical emission

We stabilized the carrier-envelope phase of pulses emitted by a femtosecond regenerative amplifier through difference frequency generation between pump and seeded amplification of colored conical emission. Seeded amplification of colored conical emission was induced by modulational instability in the second harmonic generation with a supercontinuum injected and amplified. As a consequence, it inherited the origin phase of the pump pulse. After difference frequency with the pump pulses, the generated tunable idler pulses were carrier-envelope phase stabilized, which was verified with a simple and robust spectral interference setup. PACS 42.65.Re; 42.65.Yj; 42.25.Kb     

Phase dependent interference effects on atomic excitation

We present an experimental and theoretical study of phase-dependent interference effects in multi-photon excitation under bichromatic radio-frequency (rf) field. Using an intense rf pulse, we study the interference between the three-photon and one-photon transition between the Zeeman sub-levels of the ground state of ⁸⁷Rb that allows us to determine the carrier-envelope phase of the fields even for long pulses.     

General theory of carrier-envelope phase effects

We present a general framework for understanding carrier-envelope phase (CEP) effects in a quantum system interacting with an intense, short laser pulse. We establish a simple connection between the CEP and the wave function that can be exploited to obtain the full CEP dependence of an observable given the wave function at a single CEP. Within this framework, all CEP effects are interpreted as interference between different photon amplitudes which, in turn, can be used to put limits on the pulse lengths and intensities required to see significant CEP effects.