High-order Harmonic Attosecond Pulse Research Articles

Attosecond-Resolved Evolution of a Laser-Dressed Helium Atom: Interfering Excitation Paths and Quantum Phases

Using high-order harmonic attosecond pulse trains, we investigate the photoionization dynamics and transient electronic structure of a helium atom in the presence of moderately strong (∼10(12) W cm(-2)) femtosecond laser pulses. We observe quantum interferences between photoexcitation paths from the ground state to different laser-dressed Floquet state components. As the intensity ramps on femtosecond time scales, we observe switching between ionization channels mediated by different atomic resonances. Using precision measurements of ion yields and photoelectron distributions, the quantum phase difference between interfering paths is extracted for each ionization channel and compared with simulations. Our results elucidate photoionization mechanisms in strong fields and open the doors for photoabsorption or photoionization control schemes.

Quantum wavepacket exploration of isolated high-order harmonic attosecond pulse generation: from two-color scheme to three-color scheme

Isolated attosecond generation under the two-color scheme and three-color scheme are investigated theoretically by use of wave-packet dynamics calculation. Optimized relative phase under the two-color field is obtained and comparison is taken between the second-harmonic control and half-harmonic control. A further exploration of the three-color scheme by adding a weak second-harmonic pulse and a half-harmonic pulse onto 8×1014 W cm−2 6 fs/800 nm pulse shows the potential for generating the 337 eV continuum supporting creation of an isolated 11 as pulse.

High-order harmonic attosecond pulses driven by a two-pulse laser

The scheme of attosecond high-order harmonic generation driven by a two-pulse laser field is proposed. Calculated results show that, not only a single attosecond x-ray pulse can be produced with two pulses, which may break the energy limitation of the few-cycle pulse, but also the intensity is even higher than that generated by a single laser pulse with the same intensity.

Effect of the carrier-envelope phase of the driving laser field on the high-order harmonic attosecond pulse

The effect of the carrier-envelope phase of a few-cycle driving laser field on the generation and measurement of high-order harmonic attosecond pulses is investigated theoretically. We find that the position of the generated attosecond soft-x-ray pulse in the cutoff region is locked to the oscillation of the driving laser field, but not to the envelope of the laser pulse. This property ensures the success of the width measurement of an attosecond soft-x-ray pulse based on the cross correlation between the attosecond pulse and its driving laser pulse [M. Hentschel et al., Nature (London) 414, 509 (2001)]. However, there still exists a timing jitter of the order of tens of attoseconds between the attosecond pulse and its driving laser field. We also propose a method to detect the carrier-envelope phase of the driving laser field by measuring the spatial distribution of the photoelectrons induced by the attosecond soft-x-ray pulse and its driving laser pulse.