Observation of backward high-harmonic emission from solids

We experimentally demonstrate backward emission of high-harmonics of a near-infrared laser from MgO and Si crystals in the direction of specular reflection. We show that the variation of the high-harmonic power with the angle of incidence can be predicted with nonlinear reflection coefficients deriv...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Optics express 2018-04, Vol.26 (9), p.12210-12218
Main Authors: Vampa, G, You, Y S, Liu, H, Ghimire, S, Reis, D A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS
Multiharmonic generation
Nonlinear optics at surfaces
Optical nonlinearities of condensed matter
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Summary:We experimentally demonstrate backward emission of high-harmonics of a near-infrared laser from MgO and Si crystals in the direction of specular reflection. We show that the variation of the high-harmonic power with the angle of incidence can be predicted with nonlinear reflection coefficients derived originally for perturbative nonlinearities. A comparison of transmission and reflection geometries suggests that backward-propagating high-harmonics are an excellent reference to study nonlinear propagation of intense light in solids. Backward emission will enable phase matching of the high-harmonic beam and the integration of the functionalities of extended gas-phase high-harmonic beamlines into a single optical element. The potential to achieve phase matching paves the way to solid-state based high-harmonic sources with higher flux than the best transmission-based sources, where high-harmonics are strongly absorbed by the crystal itself.
ISSN:1094-4087
1094-4087
DOI:10.1364/oe.26.012210