Linking High-Harmonic Generation and Strong-Field Ionization in Bulk Crystals

The generation of high-order harmonics in bulk solids subjected to intense ultrashort laser pulses has opened up new avenues for research in extreme nonlinear optics and light-matter interaction on sub-cycle timescales. Despite significant advancement over the past decade, a complete understanding o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2023-03
Main Authors: Jürgens, Peter, Sylvianne D C Roscam Abbing, Mero, Mark, Brown, Graham G, Vrakking, Marc J J, Mermillod-Blondin, Alexandre, Kraus, Peter M, Husakou, Anton
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Emission
Field ionization
Harmonic generations
Higher harmonics
Lasers
Nonlinear optics
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Summary:The generation of high-order harmonics in bulk solids subjected to intense ultrashort laser pulses has opened up new avenues for research in extreme nonlinear optics and light-matter interaction on sub-cycle timescales. Despite significant advancement over the past decade, a complete understanding of the involved phenomena is still lacking. High-harmonic generation in solids is currently understood as arising from nonlinear intraband currents, interband recollision and ionization-related phenomena. As all of these mechanisms involve or rely upon laser-driven excitation we combine measurements of the angular dependence of nonlinear absorption and high-order harmonic generation in bulk crystals to demonstrate the relation between high-harmonic emission and nonlinear, laser-induced ionization in solids. An unambiguous correlation between the emission of harmonics and laser-induced ionization is found experimentally, that is supported by numerical solutions of the semiconductor Bloch equations and calculations of orientation-dependent ionization rates using maximally localized Wannier-functions.
ISSN:2331-8422