Bright Coherent Ultrahigh Harmonics in the keV X-ray Regime from Mid-Infrared Femtosecond Lasers

High-harmonic generation (HHG) traditionally combines ~100 near-infrared laser photons to generate bright, phase-matched, extreme ultraviolet beams when the emission from many atoms adds constructively. Here, we show that by guiding a mid-infrared femtosecond laser in a high-pressure gas, ultrahigh...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2012-06, Vol.336 (6086), p.1287-1291
Main Authors: Popmintchev, Tenio, Chen, Ming-Chang, Popmintchev, Dimitar, Arpin, Paul, Brown, Susannah, Ališauskas, Skirmantas, Andriukaitis, Giedrius, Balčiunas, Tadas, Mücke, Oliver D., Pugzlys, Audrius, Baltuška, Andrius, Shim, Bonggu, Schrauth, Samuel E., Gaeta, Alexander, Hernández-García, Carlos, Plaja, Luis, Becker, Andreas, Jaron-Becker, Agnieszka, Murnane, Margaret M., Kapteyn, Henry C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atoms
Beam characteristics: profile, intensity, and power
spatial pattern formation
Beams (radiation)
Coherence
Conversion
Electrons
Exact sciences and technology
Femtosecond
Frequency conversion
harmonic generation, including high-order harmonic generation
Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications)
Gas pressure
Gases
Harmonic analysis
Harmonics
Ionization
Laser beams
Laser optical systems: design and operation
Lasers
Light
Musical Instruments
Nonlinear optics
Optics
Optimization
Phase matching
Photons
Physics
Strings
Ultrafast processes
optical pulse generation and pulse compression
Wave optics
Wavelengths
X-rays
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Summary:High-harmonic generation (HHG) traditionally combines ~100 near-infrared laser photons to generate bright, phase-matched, extreme ultraviolet beams when the emission from many atoms adds constructively. Here, we show that by guiding a mid-infrared femtosecond laser in a high-pressure gas, ultrahigh harmonics can be generated, up to orders greater than 5000, that emerge as a bright supercontinuum that spans the entire electromagnetic spectrum from the ultraviolet to more than 1.6 kilo-electron volts, allowing, in principle, the generation of pulses as short as 2.5 attoseconds. The multiatmosphere gas pressures required for bright, phase-matched emission also support laser beam self-confinement, further enhancing the x-ray yield. Finally, the x-ray beam exhibits high spatial coherence, even though at high gas density the recolliding electrons responsible for HHG encounter other atoms during the emission process.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1218497