Ultraviolet surprise: Efficient soft x-ray high-harmonic generation in multiply ionized plasmas
Abstract
High-harmonic generation is a universal response of matter to strong femtosecond laser fields, coherently upconverting light to much shorter wavelengths. Optimizing the conversion of laser light into soft x-rays typically demands a trade-off between two competing factors. Reduced quantum diffusion of the radiating electron wave function results in emission from each species which is highest when a short-wavelength ultraviolet driving laser is used. But, phase matching—the constructive addition of x-ray waves from a large number of atoms—favors longer-wavelength mid-infrared lasers. We identified a regime of high-harmonic generation driven by 40-cycle ultraviolet lasers in waveguides that can generate bright beams in the soft x-ray region of the spectrum, up to photon energies of 280 electron volts. Surprisingly, the high ultraviolet refractive indices of both neutral atoms and ions enabled effective phase matching, even in a multiply ionized plasma. We observed harmonics with very narrow linewidths, while calculations show that the x-rays emerge as nearly time-bandwidth–limited pulse trains of ~100 attoseconds.
- Authors:
- more »
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- US Army Research Office (ARO); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES); Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1355839
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1234578
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-JRNL-676693
Journal ID: ISSN 0036-8075
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0008803; AC52-07NA27344; WN11NF-13-1-0259; 328334; PHY-1125844; PHY-1068706; FA9550-10-1-0561; AT5015033
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- Science
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Science Journal Volume: 350 Journal Issue: 6265; Journal ID: ISSN 0036-8075
- Publisher:
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS; 71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUMM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS; 42 ENGINEERING; 70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION
Citation Formats
Popmintchev, D., Hernandez-Garcia, C., Dollar, F., Mancuso, C., Perez-Hernandez, J. A., Chen, M. -C., Hankla, A., Gao, X., Shim, B., Gaeta, A. L., Tarazkar, M., Romanov, D. A., Levis, R. J., Gaffney, J. A., Foord, M., Libby, S. B., Jaron-Becker, A., Becker, A., Plaja, L., Murnane, M. M., Kapteyn, H. C., and Popmintchev, T. Ultraviolet surprise: Efficient soft x-ray high-harmonic generation in multiply ionized plasmas. United States: N. p., 2015.
Web. doi:10.1126/science.aac9755.
Popmintchev, D., Hernandez-Garcia, C., Dollar, F., Mancuso, C., Perez-Hernandez, J. A., Chen, M. -C., Hankla, A., Gao, X., Shim, B., Gaeta, A. L., Tarazkar, M., Romanov, D. A., Levis, R. J., Gaffney, J. A., Foord, M., Libby, S. B., Jaron-Becker, A., Becker, A., Plaja, L., Murnane, M. M., Kapteyn, H. C., & Popmintchev, T. Ultraviolet surprise: Efficient soft x-ray high-harmonic generation in multiply ionized plasmas. United States. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aac9755
Popmintchev, D., Hernandez-Garcia, C., Dollar, F., Mancuso, C., Perez-Hernandez, J. A., Chen, M. -C., Hankla, A., Gao, X., Shim, B., Gaeta, A. L., Tarazkar, M., Romanov, D. A., Levis, R. J., Gaffney, J. A., Foord, M., Libby, S. B., Jaron-Becker, A., Becker, A., Plaja, L., Murnane, M. M., Kapteyn, H. C., and Popmintchev, T. Thu .
"Ultraviolet surprise: Efficient soft x-ray high-harmonic generation in multiply ionized plasmas". United States. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aac9755.
@article{osti_1355839,
title = {Ultraviolet surprise: Efficient soft x-ray high-harmonic generation in multiply ionized plasmas},
author = {Popmintchev, D. and Hernandez-Garcia, C. and Dollar, F. and Mancuso, C. and Perez-Hernandez, J. A. and Chen, M. -C. and Hankla, A. and Gao, X. and Shim, B. and Gaeta, A. L. and Tarazkar, M. and Romanov, D. A. and Levis, R. J. and Gaffney, J. A. and Foord, M. and Libby, S. B. and Jaron-Becker, A. and Becker, A. and Plaja, L. and Murnane, M. M. and Kapteyn, H. C. and Popmintchev, T.},
abstractNote = {High-harmonic generation is a universal response of matter to strong femtosecond laser fields, coherently upconverting light to much shorter wavelengths. Optimizing the conversion of laser light into soft x-rays typically demands a trade-off between two competing factors. Reduced quantum diffusion of the radiating electron wave function results in emission from each species which is highest when a short-wavelength ultraviolet driving laser is used. But, phase matching—the constructive addition of x-ray waves from a large number of atoms—favors longer-wavelength mid-infrared lasers. We identified a regime of high-harmonic generation driven by 40-cycle ultraviolet lasers in waveguides that can generate bright beams in the soft x-ray region of the spectrum, up to photon energies of 280 electron volts. Surprisingly, the high ultraviolet refractive indices of both neutral atoms and ions enabled effective phase matching, even in a multiply ionized plasma. We observed harmonics with very narrow linewidths, while calculations show that the x-rays emerge as nearly time-bandwidth–limited pulse trains of ~100 attoseconds.},
doi = {10.1126/science.aac9755},
journal = {Science},
number = 6265,
volume = 350,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Dec 03 00:00:00 EST 2015},
month = {Thu Dec 03 00:00:00 EST 2015}
}
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