High harmonic generation

About: High harmonic generation is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 11694 publications have been published within this topic receiving 222650 citations. The topic is also known as: HHG.

Coherent control of high harmonic generation via dual-gas multijet arrays.

Abstract: High harmonic generation (HHG) is a central driver of the rapidly growing field of ultrafast science. We present a novel quasiphase-matching (QPM) concept with a dual-gas multijet target leading, for the first time, to remarkable phase control between multiple HHG sources ($g2$) within the Rayleigh range. The alternating jet structure with driving and matching zones shows perfect coherent buildup for up to six QPM periods. Although not in the focus of the proof-of-principle studies presented here, we achieved competitive conversion efficiencies already in this early stage of development.

Coherent diffractive imaging of single helium nanodroplets with a high harmonic generation source

Abstract: Coherent diffractive imaging of individual free nanoparticles has opened routes for the in situ analysis of their transient structural, optical, and electronic properties. So far, single-shot single-particle diffraction was assumed to be feasible only at extreme ultraviolet and X-ray free-electron lasers, restricting this research field to large-scale facilities. Here we demonstrate single-shot imaging of isolated helium nanodroplets using extreme ultraviolet pulses from a femtosecond-laser-driven high harmonic source. We obtain bright wide-angle scattering patterns, that allow us to uniquely identify hitherto unresolved prolate shapes of superfluid helium droplets. Our results mark the advent of single-shot gas-phase nanoscopy with lab-based short-wavelength pulses and pave the way to ultrafast coherent diffractive imaging with phase-controlled multicolor fields and attosecond pulses.Diffraction imaging studies of free individual nanoparticles have so far been restricted to XUV and X-ray free - electron laser facilities. Here the authors demonstrate the possibility of using table-top XUV laser sources to image prolate shapes of superfluid helium droplets.

Optimizing high-order harmonic generation in strong fields

Abstract: The authors present high-order harmonic generation results obtained with different laser systems, a 1 ps 1053 nm Nd-glass laser, a 2 ps 616 nm synchronously pumped dye laser, a 36 ps 1064 nm mode-locked Nd-YAG laser and the second harmonics (308 nm and 532 nm) of the latter two systems. They investigate the influence of the laser pulse width, the excitation wavelength (from the near infrared to the ultraviolet) and the atomic medium on the number of photons produced and on the maximum energy attained. Harmonic generation also depends strongly on the focusing conditions. By using simple arguments and results of numerical calculations in xenon, they show that the conversion efficiency in general follows a simple b3 power law, b denoting the laser confocal parameter, up to a transition regime where the coherence length of the process becomes equal to the medium length. By applying the b3 scaling as a normalization factor, they can then compare experimental results obtained in different focusing geometries. Their experimental data show that the optimization of the photon energy produced is favoured by using long incident wavelengths and light atomic systems with a high ionization energy.

Measurement of the intensity-dependent atomic dipole phase of a high harmonic by frequency-resolved optical gating.

Abstract: The temporal profile and phase of the fifth harmonic of a Ti:sapphire laser were fully characterized by two-photon ionization frequency-resolved optical gating technique for the first time. The fifth harmonic was found to have negative chirp and the pulse compression was demonstrated. The negative chirp is well explained by using a zero-range potential model. This technique is scalable to extreme ultraviolet (XUV) and soft x-ray regions by using currently available light sources, making it possible to measure the pulse duration and phase of vacuum ultraviolet, XUV, and soft x-ray pulses.

Improved strong-field approximation and quantum-orbit theory: Application to ionization by a bicircular laser field

Abstract: A theory of above-threshold ionization of atoms by a strong laser field is formulated. Two versions of the strong-field approximation (SFA) are considered, the direct SFA and the improved SFA, which do not and do, respectively, take into account rescattering of the freed electron off the parent ion. The atomic bound state is included in two different ways: as an expansion in terms of Slater-type orbitals or as an asymptotic wave function. Even though we are using the single-active-electron approximation, multielectron effects are taken into account in two ways: by a proper choice of the ground state and by an adequate definition of the ionization rate. For the case of the asymptotic bound-state wave functions, using the saddle-point method, a simple expression for the $T$-matrix element is derived for both the direct and the improved SFA. The theory is applied to ionization by a bicircular field, which consists of two coplanar counterrotating circularly polarized components with frequencies that are integer multiples of a fundamental frequency $\ensuremath{\omega}$. Special emphasis is on the $\ensuremath{\omega}\text{\ensuremath{-}}2\ensuremath{\omega}$ case. In this case, the threefold rotational symmetry of the field carries over to the velocity map of the liberated electrons, for both the direct and the improved SFA. The results obtained are analyzed in detail using the quantum-orbit formalism, which gives good physical insight into the above-threshold ionization process. For this purpose, a specific classification of the saddle-point solutions is introduced for both the backward-scattered and the forward-scattered electrons. The high-energy backward-scattering quantum orbits are similar to those discovered for high-order harmonic generation. The short forward-scattering quantum orbits for a bicircular field are similar to those of a linearly polarized field. The conclusion is that these orbits are universal, i.e., they do not depend much on the shape of the laser field.