Abstract
Quantum-optical spectrometry is a recently developed shot-to-shot photon correlation-based method, namely using a quantum spectrometer (QS), that has been used to reveal the quantum optical nature of intense laser–matter interactions and connect the research domains of quantum optics (QO) and strong laser-field physics (SLFP). The method provides the probability of absorbing photons from a driving laser field towards the generation of a strong laser–field interaction product, such as high-order harmonics. In this case, the harmonic spectrum is reflected in the photon number distribution of the infrared (IR) driving field after its interaction with the high harmonic generation medium. The method was implemented in non-relativistic interactions using high harmonics produced by the interaction of strong laser pulses with atoms and semiconductors. Very recently, it was used for the generation of non-classical light states in intense laser–atom interaction, building the basis for studies of quantum electrodynamics in strong laser-field physics and the development of a new class of non-classical light sources for applications in quantum technology. Here, after a brief introduction of the QS method, we will discuss how the QS can be applied in relativistic laser–plasma interactions and become the driving factor for initiating investigations on relativistic quantum electrodynamics.
Highlights
A few years after the pioneering invention of lasers by Maiman [1], the scientific community addressed the two following fundamental questions: (I) “What is the quantum description of a classically oscillating current?” and (II) “How can we increase the laser power in order to observe the nonlinear response of matter?”
Taking into account the back action of the high-order harmonic generation (HHG) process on the coherent quantum state of the driving field, the method provides the spectrum of the high harmonics by measuring the photon number distribution of the IR driving field after HHG, which directly reflects the probability of absorbing IR photons towards HHG
After a brief introduction of the quantum spectrometer (QS) method (Section 1), we will discuss how the approach can be extended to interactions in the relativistic intensity region (IL > 1018 W/cm2) using a currently available state-of-the-art laser-plasma HHG source [29] (Section 2).The universal application of QS may serve as the building block for the foundation of a new research direction that benefits from the synergy of quantum optics (QO) and strong laser-field physics (SLFP)
Summary
A few years after the pioneering invention of lasers by Maiman [1], the scientific community addressed the two following fundamental questions: (I) “What is the quantum description of a classically oscillating current?” and (II) “How can we increase the laser power in order to observe the nonlinear response of matter?”. Despite the progress achieved in these research domains, they have remained disconnected over the years leaving the advantages emerging from the synthesis of both the QO and SLPF areas far unexplored This is because, on the one hand, most of the studies in QO are performed using weak electromagnetic fields (low photon number light sources) where the interaction is described by fully quantized approaches treating the field quantum mechanically and affected by the interaction. We have shown that QO and SLFP can be connected and used for investigations of strong laser-field quantum electrodynamics and the development of a new class of non-classical light sources [26] Central to these studies is the implementation of a photon-correlation-based quantum spectrometer (QS) method. After a brief introduction of the QS method (Section 1), we will discuss how the approach can be extended to interactions in the relativistic intensity region (IL > 1018 W/cm2) using a currently available state-of-the-art laser-plasma HHG source [29] (Section 2).The universal application of QS may serve as the building block for the foundation of a new research direction that benefits from the synergy of QO and SLFP
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