Scaling of High-Order Harmonic Generation in the Long Wavelength Limit of a Strong Laser Field

Abstract

The development of intense, ultrashort, table-top lasers operating in the mid-infrared spectral region, offers many new avenues for strong-field physics. Atoms submitted to such radiation allow photoelectrons to acquire huge quiver energies well over an order of magnitude larger than the binding energy of the neutral. Consequently, many interesting phenomena arise. First, wavelength offers a convenient experimental knob to tune the ionization regime by controlling the Keldysh parameter. Second, high harmonic generation depends directly on the quiver energy and can, therefore, be pushed to unprecedented limits. Third, wavelength controls the spectral phase of harmonics, and hence the possibility to improve the generation of pulses in the attosecond regime. The use of long wavelength lasers is critical to studying high-order harmonic generation in condensed phase systems, because they facilitate harmonic generation within the transmission window of the material and increase the damage threshold. We review some of the recent discoveries in long wavelength driven high-order harmonic generation in the case of isolated atoms, bulk crystals, and liquid.