Influence of the polarization of a multielectron atom in a strong laser field on high-order harmonic generation

Abstract

We study the ionization and high-order harmonic generation (HHG) in argon by short linearly polarized laser pulses. We compare the populations of atomic orbitals and HHG spectra in a wide range of laser-pulse parameters, taking into account the dynamics of all orbitals based on the time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT) and only the most active orbital within the single-active electron (SAE) approximation. At high intensities of laser pulses, the atom polarization leads to suppression in the bound-state depletion due to the screening of the external field. The significant increase in the HHG yield is observed for the TDDFT calculations in comparison with the SAE calculations. The contribution of different orbitals in the TDDFT calculations of HHG spectra is discussed.