RESUMO
The cutoff-energies of high-harmonic generation in the laser-ablated plumes of various metal targets (Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, Ta, Mo, Al, W, In, Cu, Au, Ti, Ag) driven by near-infrared (0.8-µm) femtosecond laser are investigated and compared. Due to the low ionization potentials of metal atoms, it is believed that the observed high-harmonic cutoffs are contributed by the singly charged or even doubly charged ions. Ionization calculations using Perelomov-Popov-Terent'ev theory are performed to estimate the laser intensities at which saturation of ionization occur for different ions. Treating the calculated values as the effective driving laser intensities, the observed cutoffs from most of the targets are in reasonable agreement with the predictions of the semi-classical cutoff law.
RESUMO
High-order harmonics driven by phase- and polarization-structured femtosecond pulses are unique sources of the extreme ultraviolet vortex and vector beams, which have various applications. Here, we report the generation of intense high-order harmonics during propagation of the polarization-structured vector beams (radially polarized beam, azimuthally polarized beam, and their superposition) through the laser-induced plasmas (In, C, CdS, Zns, Ag2S). Low-order harmonics became stronger with radially polarized and azimuthally polarized driving beams compared with the linearly polarized beams, which is explained on the basis of phase matching and specific properties of vector beams. Contrary to that, the resonance-enhanced harmonic generated in the indium plasma in the case of radially polarized and azimuthally polarized beams was twice weaker compared with the harmonic generated by the LP beam due to modification in the resonant transition selection rules leading to a decrease of the oscillator strength of ionic transitions. Harmonic cut-off and intensity in the case of superposition of the radially and azimuthally polarized beams were lesser compared with the cases of the individual (radially polarized and azimuthally polarized) beams.
RESUMO
Nano-clusters and nano-particles (NPs) are attractive media for high-harmonic generation (HHG) since they combine the advantages of using atomic media (for the low average density) and bulk solid media (for the high local density). Recently, laser ablated plumes from metal nano-powders have been used as HHG media and it has been often assumed that the harmonics mainly come from the NPs in the plumes but not by the isolated atoms/ions. However, this assumption is yet to be fully justified. Here, we show that in fact both NPs and isolated monomers could dominate the harmonic spectrum, depending on which part of the plume is interacting with the driving laser. From the ablated plume of indium NPs, it is found that the harmonic spectra from the region where monomers dominate are distinctively different from the region where NPs dominate. Our results demonstrate that accurately capturing the contribution of NPs in HHG processes requires precise selection of the laser-plasma interaction region, a factor that had not been carefully considered in previous studies.
RESUMO
Resonance enhancement of a single order harmonic has been a main attractive feature in high-harmonic generation from laser ablated plumes of metals. Although it has been extensively investigated experimentally and theoretically, studies so far have focused only on linearly polarized driving fields. In this Letter, we study the dependence of the resonant harmonic yield in tin ions on the driving laser ellipticity. We find that the resonance leads to a less rapid decay of the harmonic yield as a function of driving ellipticity, and it is qualitatively reproduced by quantum mechanical simulations. To the best of our knowledge, our findings provide a new type of evidence for supporting previously proposed mechanisms for enhancement.
RESUMO
Gold nanoparticles (NPs) have a wide range of applications in various fields. Here, we present high-order nonlinear optical studies of the plasmas produced from ablation of Au bulk targets and Au NP films deposited on paper and glass substrates. Experimentally, we analyze high-order harmonic generation (HHG) from gold NPs-containing plasmas. The HHG is produced by 35-fs pulses at 800 and 400 nm, while the plasmas are produced by femtosecond (35 fs, 800 nm), picosecond (200 ps, 800 nm), and nanosecond (5 ns, 1064 nm) pulses, respectively. High-order harmonics produced from ablated Au NPs on paper were 40 times stronger than the HHG from that ablated from the Au bulk targets. Through molecular dynamic simulations, we investigate the formation of gold NPs during laser ablation of a metal surface under different conditions.