Efficient generation of ultra broadband supercontinuum in a mid-infrared field

Abstract

We theoretically investigate the generation of ultra broadband supercontinuum from helium atoms exposed to a linearly polarized mid-infrared field. By adopting a UV trigger pulse to the mid-infrared field, the continuous harmonic yields are significantly enhanced by 3.5 orders, and a supercontinuum with the width of 230 eV is observed. The spectrum can support a sub-20 as pulse, which is below one atomic unit of time (24 as). The short quantum path is selected by adjusting the time delay between the UV pulse and the mid-infrared pulse, then broadband single 70 as pulses with tunable central wavelengths are obtained, which can be extended to the ‘water window’ region (284–543 eV).