Signatures of Multiband Effects in High-Harmonic Generation in Monolayer MoS_{2}.

High-harmonic generation (HHG) in solids has been touted as a way to probe ultrafast dynamics and crystal symmetries in condensed matter systems. Here, we investigate the polarization properties of high-order harmonics generated in monolayer MoS_{2}, as a function of crystal orientation relative to the mid-infrared laser field polarization. At several different laser wavelengths we experimentally observe a prominent angular shift of the parallel-polarized odd harmonics for energies above approximately 3.5 eV, and our calculations indicate that this shift originates in subtle differences in the recombination dipole strengths involving multiple conduction bands. This observation is material specific and is in addition to the angular dependence imposed by the dynamical symmetry properties of the crystal interacting with the laser field, and may pave the way for probing the vectorial character of multiband recombination dipoles.

Carrier-envelope-phase measurement of few-cycle mid-infrared laser pulses using high harmonic generation in ZnO.

High-harmonic generation (HHG) in crystals offers a simple, affordable and easily accessible route to carrier-envelope phase (CEP) measurements, which scales favorably towards longer wavelengths. We present measurements of HHG in ZnO using few-cycle pulses at 3.1µm. Thanks to the broad bandwidth of the driving laser pulses, spectral overlap between adjacent harmonic orders is achieved. The resulting spectral interference pattern provides access to the relative harmonic phase, and hence, the CEP.

Discrete dispersion scan setup for measuring few-cycle laser pulses in the mid-infrared.

In this work, we demonstrate a discrete dispersion scan scheme using a low number of flat windows to vary the dispersion of laser pulses in discrete steps. Monte Carlo simulations indicate that the pulse duration can be retrieved accurately with less than 10 dispersion steps, which we verify experimentally by measuring few-cycle pulses and material dispersion curves at 3 and 10 µm wavelength. This minimal measuring scheme using only five optical components without the need for linear positioners and interferometric alignment can be readily implemented in many wavelength ranges and situations.

Strong Light-Field Driven Nanolasers.

Einstein established the quantum theory of radiation and paved the way for modern laser physics including single-photon absorption by charge carriers and finally pumping an active gain medium into population inversion. This can be easily understood in the particle picture of light. Using intense, ultrashort pulse lasers, multiphoton pumping of an active medium has been realized. In this nonlinear interaction regime, excitation and population inversion depend not only on the photon energy but also on the intensity of the incident pumping light, which can be still described solely by the particle picture of light. We demonstrate here that lowering significantly the pump photon energy further still enables population inversion and lasing in semiconductor nanowires. The extremely high electric field of the pump bends the bands and enables tunneling of electrons from the valence to the conduction band. In this regime, the light acts by the classical Coulomb force and population inversion is entirely due to the wave nature of electrons, thus the excitation becomes independent of the frequency but solely depends on the incident intensity of the pumping light.

Toward high contrast and high-resolution microscopic ghost imaging.

In this study, the influence of speckle size on contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and resolution is examined based on the object dimensions in the macroscopic and microscopic regimes. This research shows that for microscopic samples the conventional scaling laws are no longer effective and the CNR does not counter-propagate in the same manner as the resolution. To our knowledge, a deviation in CNR scaling on speckle size is observed for the first time in the field of microscopic ghost imaging. This result was verified using two different sample shapes. In addition, numerical analysis revealed that the noise of the photodiode is a limiting factor for the CNR. Based on these findings, the conditions for identifying the parameter set that maximizes the CNR and provides high resolution images was defined, which achieving high-quality microscopic ghost images.

Two-Photon-Induced CO-Releasing Molecules as Molecular Logic Systems in Solution, Polymers, and Cells.

Phototherapeutic applications of carbon monoxide (CO)-releasing molecules are limited because they require harmful UV and blue light for activation. We describe two-photon excitation with NIR light (800 nm)-induced CO-release from two MnI tricarbonyl complexes bearing 1,8-naphthalimide units (1, 2). Complex 2 behaves as a logic OR gate in solution, nonwovens, and in HeLa cells. CO release, indicated by fluorescence enhancement, was detected in solution, nonwoven, and HeLa cells by single- (405 nm) and two-photon (800 nm) excitation. The photophysical properties of 1 and 2 have been measured and supported by DFT and TDDFT quantum chemical calculations. Both photoCORMs are stable in the dark in solution and noncytotoxic, leading to promising applications as phototherapeutics with NIR light.

Polarization evolution in single-ring antiresonant hollow-core fibers.

Understanding polarization in waveguides is of fundamental importance for any photonic device and is particularly relevant within the scope of fiber optics. Here, we investigate the dependence of the geometry-induced polarization behavior of single-ring antiresonant hollow-core fibers on various parameters from the experimental perspective, showing that structural deviations from an ideal polygonal shape impose birefringence and polarization-dependent loss, confirmed by a toy model. The minimal output ellipticity was found at the wavelength of lowest loss near the center of the transmission band, whereas birefringence substantially increases toward the resonances. The analysis that qualitatively also applies to other kinds of hollow-core fibers showed that maximizing the amount of linearly polarized light at the fiber output demands both operating at the wavelength of lowest loss, as well as carefully choosing the relative orientation of input polarization. This should correspond to the situation in which the difference of the core extent along the two corresponding orthogonal polarization directions is minimal. Due to their practical relevance, we expect our findings to be very important in fields such as nonlinear photonics or metrology.

Avalanche of stimulated forward scattering in high harmonic generation.

Optical amplifiers in all ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum exhibit an essential characteristic, namely the input signal during the propagation in the amplifier medium is multiplied by the avalanche effect of the stimulated emission to produce exponential growth. We perform a theoretical study motivated and supported by experimental data on a He gas amplifier driven by intense 30-fs-long laser pulses and seeded with attosecond pulse trains generated in a separated Ne gas jet. We demonstrate that the strong-field theory in the frame of high harmonic generation fully supports the appearance of the avalanche effect in the amplification of extreme ultraviolet attosecond pulse trains. We theoretically separate and identify different physical processes taking part in the interaction and we demonstrate that X-ray parametric amplification dominates over others. In particular, we identify strong-field mediated intrapulse X-ray parametric processes as decisive for amplification at the single-atom level. We confirm that the amplification takes place at photon energies where the amplifier is seeded and when the seed pulses are perfectly synchronized with the driving strong field in the amplifier. Furthermore, propagation effects, phase matching and seed synchronization can be exploited to tune the amplified spectral range within the seed bandwidth.

Generation of multi-millijoule red-shifted pulses for seeding stimulated Raman backscattering amplifiers.

The efficient generation of redshifted pulses from chirped femtosecond joule level Bessel beam pulses in gases is studied. The redshift spans from a few 100 cm⁻¹ to several 1000 cm⁻¹ corresponding to a shift of 50-500 nm for Nd:glass laser systems. The generated pulses have an almost perfect Gaussian beam profile insensitive of the pump beam profile, and are much shorter than the pump pulses. The highest measured energy is as high as 30 mJ, which is significantly higher than possible with solid state nonlinear frequency shifters.

Extreme ultraviolet digital in-line holography using a tabletop source.

Digital in-line holography (DIH) offers fast, lensless, and aberration-free imaging with diffraction-limited resolution and inherently combines phase- and amplitude-contrast imaging, as well as three-dimensional imaging. Extending this technique to shorter wavelengths allows increasing the achievable spatial and phase-contrast resolution, as well as accessing material parameters not accessible in the optical domain. In this paper, we report on DIH experiments conducted with a coherent tabletop ultrafast high harmonic source operated at 38 nm wavelength. Applying a twin-image-free reconstruction scheme optimized for highly absorbing samples, we were able to demonstrate the phase-contrast imaging of silicon nitride sheets of 15 nm thickness and the use of the strong absorption of extreme ultraviolet in matter for amplitude-contrast imaging of thin films with spatial resolution below 1 µm. High-resolution morphology determination in combination with phase-contrast imaging is of special importance in thin-film characterization and applications arising thereof.

Spectral broadening and compression of sub-millijoule laser pulses in hollow-core fibers filled with sulfur hexafluoride.

Spectral broadening in gas-filled hollow-core fibers is discussed for sulfur hexafluoride, a molecular gas with Raman activity. Experimental results for compressed pulses are presented for input pulses longer than the Raman period and shorter than the dephasing time at a central wavelength of 800 nm and 400 nm, respectively. For both wavelengths we compress the pulses by a factor of three and maintain a good pulse quality. The obtained results are of interest for compressing pulses generated with Yb doped lasers.

A solid-state high harmonic generation spectrometer with cryogenic cooling.

Solid-state high harmonic generation (sHHG) spectroscopy is a promising technique for studying electronic structure, symmetry, and dynamics in condensed matter systems. Here, we report on the implementation of an advanced sHHG spectrometer based on a vacuum chamber and closed-cycle helium cryostat. Using an in situ temperature probe, it is demonstrated that the sample interaction region retains cryogenic temperature during the application of high-intensity femtosecond laser pulses that generate high harmonics. The presented implementation opens the door for temperature-dependent sHHG measurements down to a few Kelvin, which makes sHHG spectroscopy a new tool for studying phases of matter that emerge at low temperatures, which is particularly interesting for highly correlated materials.

High-brightness betatron emission from the interaction of a sub picosecond laser pulse with pre-ionized low-density polymer foam for ICF research.

Direct laser acceleration (DLA) of electrons in plasmas of near-critical density (NCD) is a very advancing platform for high-energy PW-class lasers of moderate relativistic intensity supporting Inertial Confinement Fusion research. Experiments conducted at the PHELIX sub-PW Nd:glass laser demonstrated application-promising characteristics of DLA-based radiation and particle sources, such as ultra-high number, high directionality and high conversion efficiency. In this context, the bright synchrotron-like (betatron) radiation of DLA electrons, which arises from the interaction of a sub-ps PHELIX laser pulse with an intensity of 1019 W/cm2 with pre-ionized low-density polymer foam, was studied. The experimental results show that the betatron radiation produced by DLA electrons in NCD plasma is well directed with a half-angle of 100-200 mrad, yielding (3.4 ± 0.4)·1010 photons/keV/sr at 10 keV photon energy. The experimental photon fluence and the brilliance agree well with the particle-in-cell simulations. These results pave the way for innovative applications of the DLA regime using low-density pre-ionized foams in high energy density research.

XUV coherent diffraction imaging in reflection geometry with low numerical aperture.

We present an experimental realization of coherent diffraction imaging in reflection geometry illuminating the sample with a laser driven high harmonic generation (HHG) based XUV source. After recording the diffraction pattern in reflection geometry, the data must be corrected before the image can be reconstructed with a hybrid-input-output (HIO) algorithm. In this paper we present a detailed investigation of sources of spoiling the reconstructed image due to the nonlinear momentum transfer, errors in estimating the angle of incidence on the sample, and distortions by placing the image off center in the computation grid. Finally we provide guidelines for the necessary parameters to realize a satisfactory reconstruction within a spatial resolution in the range of one micron for an imaging scheme with a numerical aperture NA < 0.03.

Improving high-order harmonic yield using wavefront-controlled ultrashort laser pulses.

In this work we show that it is possible to increase the high-order harmonic yield when using wavefront-shaped laser beams. The investigation of the beam profile near the interaction region shows that the optimized beam is asymmetric and has a larger diameter. Thus, the optimized beam leads to a higher yield even if the peak intensity is lower compared to an unoptimized beam. This indicates that the wavefront of the fundamental laser beam and, accordingly, the focal profile play an important role in the efficient generation of high-order harmonic radiation.

Extreme ultraviolet light source based on intracavity high harmonic generation in a mode locked Ti:sapphire oscillator with 9.4 MHz repetition rate.

We report on the realization of an intracavity high harmonic source with a cutoff above 30 eV. The EUV source is based on a high power, hard-aperture, Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti:sapphire oscillator with a repetition rate of 9.4 MHz. The laser is operated in the net negative dispersion regime resulting in intracavity pulses as short as 17 fs with 1 µJ pulse energy. In a second intracavity focus, intensity more than 10¹4 W/cm² has been achieved, which is sufficient for high harmonic generation in a Xenon gas jet.

Deducing the electron-beam diameter in a laser-plasma accelerator using x-ray betatron radiation.

We investigate the properties of a laser-plasma electron accelerator as a bright source of keV x-ray radiation. During the interaction, the electrons undergo betatron oscillations and from the carefully measured x-ray spectrum the oscillation amplitude of the electrons can be deduced which decreases with increasing electron energies. From the oscillation amplitude and the independently measured x-ray source size of (1.8±0.3) µm we are able to estimate the electron bunch diameter to be (1.6±0.3) µm.

Table-top extreme ultraviolet second harmonic generation.

The lack of available table-top extreme ultraviolet (XUV) sources with high enough fluxes and coherence properties has limited the availability of nonlinear XUV and x-ray spectroscopies to free-electron lasers (FELs). Here, we demonstrate second harmonic generation (SHG) on a table-top XUV source by observing SHG near the Ti M2,3 edge with a high-harmonic seeded soft x-ray laser. Furthermore, this experiment represents the first SHG experiment in the XUV. First-principles electronic structure calculations suggest the surface specificity and separate the observed signal into its resonant and nonresonant contributions. The realization of XUV-SHG on a table-top source opens up more accessible opportunities for the study of element-specific dynamics in multicomponent systems where surface, interfacial, and bulk-phase asymmetries play a driving role.

Polarization Dependent Excitation and High Harmonic Generation from Intense Mid-IR Laser Pulses in ZnO.

The generation of high order harmonics from femtosecond mid-IR laser pulses in ZnO has shown great potential to reveal new insight into the ultrafast electron dynamics on a few femtosecond timescale. In this work we report on the experimental investigation of photoluminescence and high-order harmonic generation (HHG) in a ZnO single crystal and polycrystalline thin film irradiated with intense femtosecond mid-IR laser pulses. The ellipticity dependence of the HHG process is experimentally studied up to the 17th harmonic order for various driving laser wavelengths in the spectral range 3-4 µm. Interband Zener tunneling is found to exhibit a significant excitation efficiency drop for circularly polarized strong-field pump pulses. For higher harmonics with energies larger than the bandgap, the measured ellipticity dependence can be quantitatively described by numerical simulations based on the density matrix equations. The ellipticity dependence of the below and above ZnO band gap harmonics as a function of the laser wavelength provides an efficient method for distinguishing the dominant HHG mechanism for different harmonic orders.

Monitoring the He+ ion channel formation by high-order harmonic generation.

The macroscopic build-up of the high-order harmonic signal depends on the free electron density in the generation medium. The free electrons affect the harmonic yield and spectral shape through modifying the refractive index and the phase matching conditions. These dependences allow studying the He(+) ion channel formation in a He gas jet. The evolution of an ion channel created by an ultrashort laser pulse via optical field ionization was monitored using the harmonic signal generated by a collinear propagating second laser pulse. From the measured high harmonic signal as function of the delay we are able to gain information about the free electron density. Under our experimental condition, the ion channel has been fully formed 300 fs after the first laser pulse, resulting in an enhancement of harmonic yield of the second laser pulse by two orders of magnitude.