Modulation of multiphoton resonant high-order harmonic spectra driven by two frequency-comb fields

The frequency-comb structure in the extreme ultraviolet（XUV） and vacuum ultraviolet（VUV） regions can be realized by the high-order harmonic generation（HHG） process driven by frequency-comb fields, providing an alternative approach for the measurement of an unknown frequency in XUV or VUV. We consider the case of two driving frequency-comb fields with the same repetition frequency and the carrier frequencies of fundamental-and third-harmonics, respectively.The many-mode Floquet theorem（MMFT） is employed to provide a nonperturbative and exact treatment of the interaction between a quantum system and the frequency-comb laser fields. Multiphoton transition paths involving both fundamentaland third-harmonic photons are opened due to the coupling of the third-harmonic frequency-comb field. The multiphoton transition paths are superpositioned when the carrier-envelope-phase shifts（CEPs） fulfill the matching condition. And the interference of the multiphoton transition paths can be controlled by tuning the relative envelope delay between the fields.We find that the quasienergy structure, as well as the multiphoton resonant high-order harmonic generation（HHG） spectra,driven by the two frequency-comb fields can be coherently controlled via the interference of multiphoton transition paths.It is also found that the spectral intensities of the generated harmonics can be modulated, and the modulation behavior is harmonic-sensitive.

Effect of laser intensity on quantum trajectories in the macroscopic high-order harmonic generation

We macroscopically investigate the effect of the laser intensity and gas density on quantum trajectories in the highorder harmonic generation of Ne atoms irradiated by few-cycle, 800-nm laser pulses. The time–frequency profile of the harmonics shows that the long quantum trajectory is dominant at both lower and higher gas densities for a low laser intensity. At high laser intensities, the long quantum trajectory plays an important role for lower gas densities, while the short quantum trajectory is dominant at higher gas densities. An analysis of the phase mismatch for high-order harmonic generation shows that the primary emission of the quantum trajectories is determined by dynamic changes in the laser electric field during the propagation process.

Extension of high-order harmonics and generation of an isolated attosecond pulse in the chirped laser field

This paper theoretically investigates the high-order harmonic generation cutoff extension using intense few-cycle linearly chirped laser pulses. It shows that the cutoff of the harmonic can be extended remarkably by optimising the chirping parameters. The time-frequency characteristics of high-order harmonics with different chirping parameters are analysed by means of wavelet transform of the dipole acceleration. It also gives out the classical three-step model pictures of electron. By superposing a properly selected range of the harmonic spectrum, it obtains an isolated 65as pulse.

Selection of quantum path in high-order harmonics and isolated sub-100 attosecond generation in few-cycle spatially inhomogeneous laser fields

We theoretically study the selection of the quantum path in high-order harmonics（HHG） and isolated attosecond pulse generation from a one-dimensional（1D） model of a H_2~＋ molecule in few-cycle inhomogeneous laser fields.We show that the inhomogeneity of the laser fields play an important role in the HHG process.The cutoff of the harmonics can be extended remarkably,and the harmonic spectrum becomes smooth and has fewer modulations.We investigate the time-frequency profile of the time-dependent dipole,which shows that the short quantum path is enhanced and the long quantum path disappears in spatially inhomogeneous fields.The semi-classical three-step model is also applied to illustrate the physical mechanism of HHG.The influence of driving field carrier-envelop phase（CEP） on HHG is also discussed.By superposing a series of properly selected harmonics,an isolated attosecond pulse（IAP） with duration 53 as can be obtained by a 15-fs,1600-nm laser pulse with the parameter ε = 0.0013（e is the parameter that determines the order of inhomogeneity of the laser field）.

High-order harmonic generation of N2molecule in two-color circularly polarized laser fields

The generation of high-order harmonics and the attosecond pulse of the N2 molecule in two-color circularly polarized laser fields are investigated by the strong-field Lewenstein model. We show that the plateau of spectra is dramatically extended and a continuous harmonic spectrum with the bandwidth of 113 eV is obtained. When a static field is added to the x direction, the quantum path control is realized and a supercontinuum spectrum can be obtained, which is beneficial to obtain a shorter attosecond pulse. The underlying physical mechanism is well explained by the time-frequency analysis and the semi-classical three-step model with a finite initial transverse velocity. By superposing several orders of harmonics in the combination of two-color circularly polarized laser fields and a static field, an isolated attosecond pulse with a duration of 30 as can be generated.

Controlling the contributions to high-order harmonic generation from different nuclei of N_2 with an orthogonally polarized two-color laser field

The generation of high-order harmonic and the attosecond pulse of the N2 molecule with an orthogonally polarized two-color laser field are investigated by the strong-field Lewenstein model.We show that the control of contributions to high-order harmonic generation（HHG） from different nuclei is realized by properly selecting the relative phase.When the relative phase is chosen to be φ= 0.4π,the contribution to HHG from one nucleus is much more than that from another.Interference between two nuclei can be suppressed greatly; a supercontinuum spectrum of HHG appears from 40 e V to125 e V.The underlying physical mechanism is well explained by the time–frequency analysis and the semi-classical threestep model with a finite initial transverse velocity.By superposing several orders of harmonics,an isolated attosecond pulse with a duration of 80 as can be generated.

High-order harmonic generation spectrum of an excited one-dimensional Coulomb atom in an intense laser field

Response of the wave packet of a one-dimensional Coulomb atom to an intense laser field is calculated using the symmetrized split operator fast Fourier method. The high-order harmonic generation （HHG） of the initial state separately being the ground and excited states is presented. When the hardness parameter a in the soft Coulomb potential V（x） =-1√x^2＋α is chosen to be small enough, the so-called hard Coulomb potential V（x）=1/｜x｜ can be obtained. It is well known that the hard one-dimensional Coulomb atom has an unstable ground state with an energy eigenvalue of - 0.5 and it has no states corresponding to physical states in the true atoms, and has the first and second excited states being degenerate. The parity effects on the HHG can be seen from the first and second excited states of the hard one-dimensional Coulomb atom. The HHG spectra of the excited states from both the soft and hard Coulomb atom models are shown to have more complex structures and to be much stronger than the corresponding HHG spectrum of the ground state of the soft Coulomb model with a = 2 in the same laser field. Laser-induced non-resonant one-photon emission is also observed.

Optimization of multi-color laser waveform for high-order harmonic generation

With the development of laser technologies,multi-color light-field synthesis with complete amplitude and phase control would make it possible to generate arbitrary optical waveforms.A practical optimization algorithm is needed to generate such a waveform in order to control strong-field processes.We review some recent theoretical works of the optimization of amplitudes and phases of multi-color lasers to modify the single-atom high-order harmonic generation based on genetic algorithm.By choosing different fitness criteria,we demonstrate that：（i） harmonic yields can be enhanced by 10 to 100 times,（ii） harmonic cutoff energy can be substantially extended,（iii） specific harmonic orders can be selectively enhanced,and（iv） single attosecond pulses can be efficiently generated.The possibility of optimizing macroscopic conditions for the improved phase matching and low divergence of high harmonics is also discussed.The waveform control and optimization are expected to be new drivers for the next wave of breakthrough in the strong-field physics in the coming years.

Spectral redshift of high-order harmonics by adding a weak pulse in the falling part of the trapezoidal laser pulse

We investigate the spectral redshift of high-order harmonics of the H_2~＋（D_2~＋） molecule by numerically solving the non-Born–Oppenheimer time-dependent Schr ¨odinger equation（TDSE）. The results show that the spectral redshift of highorder harmonics can be observed by adding a weak pulse in the falling part of the trapezoidal laser pulses. Comparing with the H_2~＋ molecule, the shift of high-order harmonic generation（HHG） spectrum for the D_2~＋ molecule is more obvious.We employ the spatial distribution in HHG and time-frequency analysis to illustrate the physical mechanism of the spectral redshift of high-order harmonics.

Effect of electron correlation on high-order harmonic generation in helium model atom

High-order harmonic generation （HHG） of a helium model atom in an intense laser field has been numerically investigated. The influence of electron correlation on HHG is analysed by changing the strength between the electrons. The numerical results show that as the electron interaction strength becomes small, the first ionization energy increases rapidly, which results in the decrease in ionization. So the conversion efficiency of the high harmonic lying in the plateau decreases greatly, while the cutoff harmonic order in the harmonic spectrum increases.

Control of high-order harmonic generation with two-colour laser field

We numerically investigate the high-order harmonic generation with two-colour optical field, taking into consideration the propagation effects. Some harmonics can be dramatically enhanced at a certain delay between the fundamental pulse and its second harmonics. Choice of the enhanced harmonics can be realised by changing the time delay between the two laser pulses.

High-order harmonic generation of Li^+ with combined infrared and extreme ultraviolet fields

We investigate high-order harmonic generation （HHG） ofLi＋ ion driven by an intense infrared （IR） laser field in corn-bination with a weak XUV pulse. To achieve this, we first construct an accurate single-active electron angular-momentumdependent model potential of Li＋ ion, by which the accurate singlet energy levels of Li＋ for the ground state and excited states with higher quantum numbers can be obtained. Then, we solve numerically the three dimensional time-dependent Schr/Sdinger equation of Li＋ ion by means of the generalized pseudospectral method to obtain HHG. Our results show that the strength of assisted XUV is not amplified during the harmonic generation process, but the yield of HHG power spectrum in the whole plateau has a significant enhancement. Furthermore, the optimal phase delay between the IR and XUV pulses allows the production of ultrabroadband supercontinuum spectra. By superposing some harmonics, a strong new single 27-attosecond ultrashort pulse can be obtained.

Controls for the generation of high-order harmonics and attosecond pulses by an infrared laser field combined with a low-frequency pulse

We investigate high-order harmonic generations by controlling various quantum paths of harmonics in an infrared laser field which combines a low-frequency pulse. Both classical theory and the quantum wavelet transform method are used to understand the physics of harmonics. By adjusting the carrier envelope phase of the fundamental field, the intensities of harmonic spectra increase and the harmonics in the plateau become regular. Attosecond pulses each with a duration of 58 as are obtained directly by compressing the harmonics, and with phase compensation an isolated attosecond pulse less than 30 as can be generated.

Higher Order Moment Spectra Time-Frequency Analysis of the Geophysical Signal

On the basis of an introduction of the Wigner Higher-Order spectra (WHOS) and a general class of time-frequency higher-order moment spectra, the geophysical signal was analyzed using the higher order time-frequency distributions (TFD). Simulation results obtained in this paper show that the higher-order TFD (Wigner Bispectrum, Wigner Trispectrum and Choi-Williams Trispectrum) have much better Time-Frequency Concentration than the second-order TFD, and the reduced interference higher-order TFD such as CWT can effectively reduce the cross-term in multicomponent signals and simultaneously obtain high time-frequency concentration.

Supercontinuous high harmonic generation from asymmetric molecules in the presence of a terahertz field

We have investigated high-order harmonic generation from asymmetric molecules. It is found that supercontinuous high harmonics, which are produced from asymmetric molecules by significantly steering the ionization, are broken down when the electric field of the 5-fs driving laser pulse is increased to 0.16 a.u. The high harmonic generation from asymmetric molecules with the presence of a terahertz field is also investigated. This reveals that the terahertz controlled laser pulse significantly increases the energy difference between photons, emitted from the ejected electrons, in the first and second halves of the optical cycle at the centre of the driving laser pulse. In this way, a 200-eV broadband supercontinuum can be produced in the plateau, from which a 60-as pulse with a bandwidth of 60 eV can be directly obtained with a minor post-pulse.

Restraint of spatial distribution in high-order harmonic generation from a model of hydrogen molecular ion

The spatial distribution in high-order harmonic generation（HHG） is theoretically investigated by using a few-cycle laser pulse from a two-dimensional model of a hydrogen molecular ion. The spatial distribution in HHG demonstrates that the harmonic spectra are sensitive to the carrier envelope phase and the duration of the laser pulse. The HHG can be restrained by a pulse with the duration of 5 fs in the region from the 90 th to 320th order. This characteristic is illustrated by the probability density of electron wave packet distribution. The electron is mainly located near the nucleus along the positive-x direction from 3.0 o.c. to 3.2 o.c., which is an important time to generate the HHG in the plateau area. We also demonstrate the time-frequency distribution in the region of the positive-and negative-x direction to explain the physical mechanism.

Quantitative Measurement of the Proportions of High-Order Harmonics for the 4B7B Soft-X-Ray Source at Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility

A transmission grating coupled with an X-ray charge coupled device （CCD） is used to quantitatively measure the proportion of high-order harmonics of the soft-X-ray source of beam line 4B7B. The results show that the monochromatic X-ray has third-order and second-order harmonics. The proportion of second-order harmonic of 4B7B is less than 9.0% and the third- order harmonic is below 0.7% when no suppressing method is applied. When suppression methods are used, the proportion of second-order harmonic is less than 1.7% and the third-order harmonic is ignorable.

A scaling law of high-order harmonic generation

Using a nonperturbative quantum electrodynamics theory of high-order harmonic generation （HHG）, a scaling law of HHG is established. The scaling law states that when the atomic binding energy Eb, the wavelength ）, and the intensity I of the laser field change simultaneously to kEb, λ/k, and k3I, respectively. The characteristics of the HHG spectrum remain unchanged, while the harmonic yield is enhanced k3 times. That HHG obeys the same scaling law with above-threshold ionization is a solid proof of the fact that the two physical processes have similar physical mechanisms. The variation of integrated harmonic yields is also discussed.

High-order harmonic generation with a two-color laser pulse

We theoretically investigate the electron dynamics of the high-order harmonics generation process by combining a near-infrared 800 nm driving pulse with a mid-infrared 2000 nm control field. We also investigate the emission time of harmonics using time-frequency analysis to illustrate the physical mechanisms of high-order harmonic generation. We calculate the ionization rate using the Ammoso Delone-Krainov model and interpret the variations in harmonic intensity for different control field strengths and delays. We find that the width of the harmonic plateau can be extended when the control electric field is added, and a supercontinuum from 198 to 435 eV is generated, from which an isolated 61-as pulse can be directly obtained.

Carrier envelope phase effect on the spatial distribution of high-order harmonic generation in asymmetric molecule

The spatial distribution in high-order harmonic generation（HHG） from the asymmetric diatomic molecule He H^（2＋） is investigated by numerically solving the non-Born–Oppenheimer time-dependent Schr？dinger equation（TDSE）. The spatial distribution of the HHG spectra shows that there is little contribution in HHG around the geometric center of two nuclei（z = 1.17 a.u.） and the equilibrium internuclear position of the H nucleus（z = 3.11 a.u.）. We demonstrate the carrier envelope phase（CEP） effect on the spatial distribution of HHG in a few-cycle laser pulse. The HHG process is investigated by the time evolution of the electronic density distribution. The time–frequency analysis of HHG from two nuclei in HeH^（2＋） is presented to further explain the underlying physical mechanism.